Between Days

Coming after Bridges and Superbloom, Between Days is the third in a trilogy of EPs from Kiefer, the LA-based keyboardist and beatmaker. Right away, the listener is enveloped by his radiant jazz virtuosity on acoustic piano, bursting from inside a pillowy electronic soundscape with earworm melodies, lush chords, fat synth bass, and deep, inviting grooves. The opening title track is a surprise, a magical downtempo reworking of The Cure’s era-defining “In Between Days.” A full band joins, with featured guest trumpeter Theo Croker, for the closing Roy Ayers cover. Trumpeter Sara Sithi-Amnuai comes through with a well-seasoned riff, in tight four-part harmony, toward the end of “Friends,” while other like-minded collaborators—The Kount, 10.4 ROG, Lakey Inspired—make their presence felt on the EP’s latter half, after the brief, abstract palate cleanser “Labored Breathing.”