Reviewed by Elliot Rose

When he picks up a guitar, Sheffield-based singer/songwriter Jon Cooper transforms into quirky recording persona Responding With Tea (despite the fact that Jon is a self-confessed coffee drinker). Recorded in his local church, St John's, Sheffield, this debut digital EP features six self-composed tracks and is downloadable from his website free of charge. I suggest you make the effort. Jon plays all the instruments himself with impressive acoustic guitar on songs like "Fire And Scales" and "Your Glory", and delay-filled electric guitar on "Plumbline". The songwriting at times is also impressive ("Here I Am Before You" is particularly touching) although some of the lyrics do occasionally feel slightly undeveloped while his voice holds up well with only the occasional duff note. And if one was being hyper-critical, a few of his harmonies do clash a little. But Responding With Tea's light hearted approach to his music makes the EP well worth downloading.

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