Surat musician Aayushi Karnik is currently studying jazz guitar at the Julliard school in New York, but it is only another step in a music career that’s already been many years long. Since a ludicrously young age, her prowess on the guitar and her love from rock, blues and jazz has seen her play at huge festivals and receive the accompanying accolades. Her talent as a player is obviously no joke, but she’s good at the songwriting bits as well. Her new EP, ‘The Summer’s Children’ is solid, solid proof.

The four songs here are in collaboration with Gabe Rupe and live mostly in the acoustic space. Aayushi’s playing is fanastic right from the first few seconds of the title track; it is ridiculously clear and expressive (which isn’t a surprise but merits many a mention). Her vocals, while a bit on the more fun side, are quality too. Honestly, the fact that the supporting cast of characters include the occasional low-end and pretty much nothing else is a great thing here because the guitar does the rest. The bass (a bowed double bass, referenced later) does get a bit of time to itself too. ‘At The Burby’ is a bit more on the chipper ballad side of things, but it still shows nuance. The recording, it must be said, isn’t the glassy and pristine presentation you hear on many indie albums. There’s some transience and personality to be found here. ‘Why’ is sentimental and therefore absolute heaven for anyone who like acoustic guitar in that context. There are some melodies she plays that are just nuts here, even more so (a tough ask) than moments on other tracks. ‘Sunrise’ tops things off with double bass (the big thing) and some wonderfully bitter chords. To be completely fair, the songwriting and playing on ‘The Summer Children’ do co-exist. It’s not like Aayushi is overtly flexing her guitar skills just to wow you (even though she can probably do that in her sleep). The songs here are actually just that: songs with writing in them. This EP is that of a good songwriter who can play guitar well, and that is a great approach.

Listen to 'The Summer Children' here and on all platforms.