Friends is an emotive battle and introspective look at Naturalist's foundation as a band. Playing on expressive lyrics and dynamic musicality, the group finds themselves immersed in the recurring thematic accompaniment of heavy guitars ranging to clean rhythmic sections at play with witty expressive lyrics climaxing, relaxing and peaking again until it leaves listeners stranded at a low tide... searching for the place between rest and fury. "It’s a cool thing to be able to hear a band’s progression from one album to the next. Did they have a change in style or tone? Is their sound more complex, or did they evolve toward something more basic and stripped down? Where did they go lyrically? What new themes are they going for and what is the connection to the change in their personal lives? It’s those types of questions that were in my mind as I began spinning Naturalist’s new record, Friends. Having the pleasure of reviewing their previous work last year, I recall a passionate yearning for love and something to place hope in. The band screamed out very brooding songs, amid the search for the clues to put life back together. With this new EP, that theme has now been reestablished into a concept album of sorts, as writer/vocalist Ashton Prescott dives even deeper into the dark waters of abandonment, loss and a very personal struggle with his relationship with God. If read like a book, the lyrics are hard to take at times. Certainly there’s no doubting the transparency in his words, and any filter has been taken off and destroyed altogether. As far as the overall sound goes, I believe it has progressed quite well. We have the introduction of clean vocals, which I believe were totally absent in their first EP (if memory serves.) The guitar work is at times perfectly understated, and at other times beefy and foundational. Included is a nice mix of chimes and keyboards, which also bolstering the arraignment. The songs are cleverly titled, spelling out, “I Wish You Were Here.” Perhaps an ode to Pink Floyd, or maybe just more of a personal statement linked to the underlining idea behind the record itself, either way, kudos." - Scott Swan (Indievision Music)