|PIC1|On first look, you could be forgiven for asking yourself how the masterful Jars of Clay could do such a thing as to release an EP with only five tracks - only two of which are new. But fear not all you Jars of Clay lovers out there. This is the mouth-watering forerunner to a full-length album due to be released in 2009. Can we wait? Hardly!

The EP opens with the funky track, 'Closer', which Jars of Clay road-tested at some of the summer's Christian festivals. For this number, the band have delved into the cupboard of cute electronicy sounds - which work really well, thankfully - and this track could be a sign that next year's release will be a lot cheerier than their 2006 hit album, Good Monsters.

The track embodies the band's changing tastes and sound experimentation again, just as Good Monsters did, but the unmistakable voice of lead singer Dan Haseltine means that this little play-around is not too far from what we know and love as Jars of Clay.

The EP moves on to the soulful Safe to Land, which captures what Jars of Clay capture best - that sense of helpless reaching out to God when we feel we've hit rock bottom. This song is about second chances and that all important U-turn; that point we all reach in our walk of faith at some point or another, when we realise we're in a rotten place and all we can do is hope with the tiniest grain of hope left in us that God might accept us again and bring us back to a place of safety with Him.

What's great about Jars of Clay is that comfort they give you of "We've all been there". If you are one of those people who turn instinctively to 'Worlds Apart' in those moments of spiritual crisis, 'Safe to Land' offers another solidly reliable place of solace for the weary and downtrodden spiritual traveller.

The EP includes a slightly re-worked version of their best known track, Flood, before being capped off with a track written for the independent documentary film, Sons of Lwala, which demonstrates yet again that Jars of Clay are masters of simplicity.

Jars of Clay are currently in the studio with producer Ron Aniello (Lifehouse, Barenaked Ladies) putting the final touches on their forthcoming album, due for release in early 2009 on the band's own imprint label, Gray Matters.

The Closer EP is out now (Gray Matters/Nettwerk) on digital and physical formats.

On the web: www.jarsofclay.com