In the Slight

In the Slight is the second extended play (EP) by Australian indie rock band Spacey Jane, released independently on 10 November 2018. It was produced by Rob Grant and Dave Parkin, and preceded by two singles, "Cold Feet" and "Keep a Clean Nose". The EP was supported by a national tour from March 2019.

Compared to the garage rock sound of their debut EP No Way to Treat an Animal (2017), In the Slight dabbles with indie rock and folk-pop, with elements of shoegaze. This style built the foundation for the sound of their debut studio album, Sunlight (2020).

Background and release
In 2017, Spacey Jane released their debut EP, No Way to Treat an Animal. On 16 April 2018, the band released a dual single, In the Meantime, featuring the tracks "Old Enough" and "So You Wanna".

The lead single "Cold Feet" was released with a launch party at Badlands Bar, Perth on 13 August 2018. "Keep a Clean Nose" followed on 12 October as the second single, alongside a music video directed by George Foster. The band held a launch party for the EP at the Rosemount Hotel in Perth on 10 November, before embarking on the In the Slight Australian Tour in March 2019.

As with the band's previous releases, the cover artwork was designed by artist Alice Ford. Concerning the title of the EP, Harper explained it "came from emotions and intuitions that come out in one moment or second, unable to really be fully experienced again."

Writing and production
All five tracks on the EP were written by the band's Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu, Caleb Harper and Kieran Lama. Its sound marks a departure from No Way to Treat an Animal, a "garage pop odyssey" which was described by Nathan Robert of Pilerats as maintaining a "cleaner, harder rock sound." Instead, In the Slight has been described by Ali Shutler of NME as dabbling "with folk, emo and the decadence of ’00s indie."

Describing his writing process, Harper admitted in an interview with the Geraldton Guardian that occasionally "there’s a bit of gibberish" in his lyrics. "Cold Feet" is written about his worry that an ex-lover moving the country would never come back to Australia. Le Cornu admitted the band "gained a lot of maturity in the songwriting from the first to the second EP". Harper continued, in a press release:"I definitely think we focussed a lot more heavily on the dynamic between our guitars and playing off each other. On the first EP we were really just playing lots of guitar, always, and we learnt to step back a little bit and try and work with each other better."Pilerats' Hayden Davies observed that the EP's "dreamy shoegaze" tracks explore "every facet and groove of their summery, guitar-backed pop sound." His colleague Jacob Steenson specifically praised "Cold Feet" for its "engaging lyrics amidst just a damn fine slice of jangly indie-pop." "Sawteeth", the third track and most-streamed on Spotify, was praised by outlets for being notably "melancholic," with its "pensive lyricism making it a stand-out from the rest" according to Kaya Selin of The Backbeat Podcast. Writing for Sacred Exile, Brandon Sims noted that "Keep a Clean Nose" and "Neoprene" "help show off Harper’s talent by giving the vocals a bit more focus," and cited the Strokes and the Cure as noticeable influences.

Personnel
Musicians


 * Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu – lead guitar, writing
 * Caleb Harper – lead vocals, guitar, writing
 * Kieran Lama – drums, writing
 * Amelia Murray – bass guitar, backing vocals

Additional personnel


 * Dave Parkin – producer, mixing (tracks 2–3)
 * Rob Grant – producer, mixing (tracks 1, 4–5), mastering (tracks 1, 4)
 * Will Bowden – mastering (tracks 2–3, 5)
 * Alice Ford – artwork