The penultimate run around the mulberry bush before dropping his name and simply referring to himself and his band as The Cardinals (the last looks to be a boxset titled 20:20, finally officially releasing some of the classics in his vault), this EP is another striking reminder of just what sets Ryan Adams apart as both a songwriter and performer.

Opening with a single from his 2007 album Easy Tiger, the bulk of this EP is fresh material, be it in live-in-the-studio cuts, obtuse covers, or blissful new tunes. New cuts Follow the Lights and My Love For You Is Real mirror the easy-on-the-ear nature of his most recent album, but live-in-the-studio cuts of older tracks such as This Is It (from the rambunctious Rock n Roll), If I Am a Stranger and Dear John (both from Jacksonville City Nights) as well as the delightful interpretation of his own Blue Hotel, gifted to Willie Nelson’s Adams-produced album Songbird, are more akin to the live sound of The Cardinals with multi-part harmonies a distinct highlight.

The cover is a doozy – a stripped-back interpretation of Alice In Chains’ Down in a Hole that utilises the same American Beauty-era Grateful Dead vibe apparent in the other live-in-the-studio numbers. Follow the Lights is a striking reminder of just how varied Adams influences – and indeed his own sound – has been in the past, and how it has coalesced to the position that he is in now, where his sound has settled and developed its own distinct nuances.