A calm, gentle drift washes over like a rippling tide in "Winona", the reverb-drenched track that opens Talk Before Sleep’s self-titled debut EP. Not to be confused with that other shoegaze ode to "Winona" by Drop Nineteens, but of a similar vein in how it treats distortion with a considerate touch, the El Monte trio later follow suit with a pair of tracks that veer from lushly poppy ("Clean") to more tensioned in its drige-like songwriting approach ("Lights"). A promising debut, Talk Before Sleep is a prudent first effort that emits a tranquil energy with its ambiguous curiosity. – Juan Rodríguez
