“I’ve read many of your postings and I owe it to all of you to respond:
I understand all of your frustration and anger, and I never meant to let any of you down. Your support for Scars has been so important to me and the band. I would never cancel a tour unless I had real reasons and personal things that require my undivided attention. The music of Scars will live on, but now is a time when aspects of my life need to be tended to. I hope all of you can understand.”

What a crazy mix we have here: the Church, Nada Surf, the Doors and Mama Cass renditions all on one disc—er, in one digital collection, courtesy of Nicole Atkins and the Sea. Yes, Atkins hopes the four songs will make it to a 10’’ vinyl fans can buy at shows, but her label, Columbia Records, remains reluctant (at least as of mid-September) because it must press a minimum of 100,000 copies. High risk? Pretty much anything “pressed” isn’t a great investment these days.

Anyhow, on to the substance. Besides the stunning tongue-in-cheek artwork, we find surprisingly faithful representations of songs we’ve previously heard. Songs like a slightly more climatic version the Doors’ “Crystal Ship” (also appearing on the Choke motion picture soundtrack) or indie-band Nada Surf’s “Inside Of Love” (with slide guitar) demonstrate the singer’s understanding of her influences. (Fun fact: Atkins played “Crystal Ship” in Cleveland last October declaring she used to hate the Doors before realizing she was just trying to be cool.)

It’s quite amazing: Besides a few minor changes in instrumentation, these covers don’t stray too far from the originals. But after taking out the original singers and plugging in Atkins’ beautiful, longing croon, these numbers become hers. Listening to her less-’80s take on “Under the Milky Way” is a perfect example, the gentle undercurrent of her prying vocals sliding under your skin and popping up all the hairs. Think of it as reverse bubble-wrap snapping.

In what could be the brightest star not in Orion’s belt (Rigel, according to Wikipedia), Atkins shines especially bright on the Mama Cass classic “Dream a Little Dream.” Accompanied by a lone acoustic guitar—you’re probably getting the wrong idea about this Mastodon-loving Jersey dame—in one of the purest examples of a hauntingly pure voice, she carries you through a lullaby that feels like it’s being delivered in-person.

At times, you might wish differences from the originals and the updates were more distinct. But really, this woman could probably sing Britney Spears or Nickelback and inject respectability into something that, quite frankly, doesn’t deserve her. Oh, but what a troubling thought. Let’s hope Atkins never has to dig that deep.

This EP is available for download at most online retailers.