At their simplest, Shadows’ offerings are pieces of jazz-infused garage in which thick electric piano and meandering electronics share the same space as rolling step patterns. The 10-minute opener, “Myrtle Avenue,” serves as Shepard’s most elongated exploration into this world, beginning with the distant firings of a sequenced pattern before taking form. From there, he builds a patient groove led by a beautifully melodic piano lick and reinforced by occasional bursts of arpeggios and gliding synths. Eventually, the electric piano and gliding synth move in unison, repeating a progression that is as intelligent as it is warm, all the while letting the rest of track’s elements—drums, bass, and even a sparse female vocal (possibly from frequent collaborator Fatima)—fall into place around it. Like “Myrtle Avenue,” the EP’s other cuts have a remarkably natural flow to them, almost as if it wasn’t a single person programming these musical events, but rather a number of musicians playing together and improvising the movements. Sure, that’s romanticizing things a bit, as Shadows is obviously made of programmed compositions, but it is a testament to Shepherd’s technique that the line between human and electronic performance becomes so blurred as the record unfolds.
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