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San Pedro, CA bedroom folkie David Jerkovich hasn’t released much since 2006 second LP Pink in the Sink, aside from 2011’s Hollow Notes EP. (His moniker translates as “New Split,” coined from a friend’s idea to rename his hometown after the Croatian port city; San Pedro is home to a large Croatian population.) On Hollow, he punctuated his lo-fi musings with warm electro-beats, but on Creeping he mostly shuns percussion except for some lightly tapped drums. In fact, its one-take, candlelit aura sounds even more stark and hushed than it did on Pink. Creeping’s two originals, the lovely, violin-splashed title track and the terse, Neil Halstead-like “Stupid,” both bask in a tranquil, melancholy ambience; each one finds Jerkovich attempting to rekindle old, fleeting romances.
He continues his nostalgic reminiscing on the fragile, bare-bones rendition of Iris DeMent’s 1992 “Our Town” (which accompanied the poignant last scene of TV show Northern Exposure’s 1995 series finale), played on instruments that almost sound like toys. He rounds out the EP with a tender cover of his former Ill Lit bandmate Daniel Ahearn’s “Light of God” (two Ahearn tunes also appeared on Hollow), a quavering, dual-voiced spiritual sung near a cappella-style, except for some spare acoustic and melodica. Once again, Novi Split’s unembellished, frank songs make for a quietly affecting listen.
