Last month, Dan Wriggins — leader of the Philadelphia rootsy rockers Friendship — released a pair of new solo tracks. Turns out they were only part of a larger recording session that took place late last year. Today, Wriggins is announcing a new EP called Mr. Chill featuring five more songs from those sessions.

The EP’s lead single and title track, true to its name, sounds quite laidback, but there’s anxiety humming underneath, a view of the world that’s slightly clouded. “What can a poor kid do to keep busy?/ Because I still need to love this little world,” Wriggins sings on it. “I can tell you stuff I can’t tell anyone else/ Because you don’t threaten to help.”

Here’s Wriggins on the project:

I recorded 14 songs with Brad Krieger at his beautiful studio in Lincoln, RI in October. Mike Cormier played everything but guitar, and some pizzicato plucks on “Yellow Bricks,” courtesy of brilliant pilgrim Lina Tullgren. I didn’t want any bass, so Mike found a humongous kick drum. The five songs that make up “Mr. Chill” hung together best, so I made an EP. The songs are fragmentary. Scenes and images come from memories, dreams, friends, books, lullabies, tv shows, etc. I wanted it to sound, as usual, like Kath Bloom or Vic Chesnutt. Mike was thinking of Glen Campbell. I’ve gotten “hey man, your music is so chill” a lot, and I’m like what the fuck??? I thought it was DIRE.

I wrote the song “Mr. Chill” while working for an arborist/tree care company in the Philly suburbs. The hours were long and strenuous, and like most of my friends, I was balancing full time work with writing music and playing shows. That’s where the clock-punching lyrics come from. This was a couple years ago, and I am only realizing now that “Mr. Chill” might be a Christmas song. It also reminds me of the Disney ride “It’s a Small World.” It’s the only song I’ve written so far that does not rhyme.

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “All Things Being Equal”
02 “Season”
03 “Lucinda On June Bug”
04 “Yellow Bricks”
05 “Mr. Chill”

The Mr. Chill EP is out 3/12 via Orindal Records. Pre-order it here.