The bridge between the
Heart
and
Soul
albums, the mini-LP
&
isn't quite an afterthought or departure. It's merely a bonus EP given to members of the Church Choir -- the name of
Eric Church
's fan club -- between the releases of
, containing six songs from the same North Carolina sessions that produced the two other LPs. Like its parent albums,
benefits from
Church
's assured craft and the easy authority of his band, who sound as convincing on the slow-burning "Doing Life with Me" as they do on the straight-up funk "Do Side." If none of the six songs here feel monumental -- apart from the aforementioned "Do Side" and the steady crescendo of "Lone Wolf," everything here is so low-key it could be called subdued -- they're all quite appealing, modest yet finely crafted tunes that are meant to endure. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine