Jackson Hole, Wyoming-based alternative rock band Box Elder will be self-releasing a brand new six-song EP, Minimums, on May 19. 

After making a splash with their debut EP, These Distractions Are Constant, the quartet is following hot on its heels with another one. Minimums consist of six songs running the emotional gamut of regret, self-doubt, lost love, and ruminations of the pointlessness of life. It’s like signing a contract for twenty minutes of non-stop heartbreak and high tension. You buy that ticket, you take that ride.

This album is a concoction of varying elements: soft yet fierce, beautiful, and intense. The vocals, smokey and gravely, are accentuated by bold, thundering drums, and atop that, wailing leads swoop in like a pale horse ridden by Ron Wasserman. The hooks are infectious and the song structures are unpredictable. Here is a band that has put literally everything they have into it and it’s undeniable as long as you have ears to perk.

Vocalist Chris Archuleta had the following to say about the new release:

“This record has meant a lot to me since first taking steps towards writing these songs. It has been like watching a plant grow. What started out as me recording and releasing a solo record that I never had any intention of doing much with has turned into playing music with some of my best friends in places I never thought I would find myself. It’s the most comfort I’ve ever found in my own music and the most driven I’ve ever been to pick up my guitar.”

Though Minimums may be swelling with tragic themes and lyrical content, it really is a cathartic journey from start to finish, because though it may hurt, it is comforting to know, struck by a moment of sonder, that you aren’t alone.

Today, the band premieres the EP’s title track, an up-tempo, emo-leaning rocker that music publishers should be falling over themselves to license to television and movies. Fans of early The Anniversary and Cadillac Blindside will love this.