The latest offering from the Dorian Small Band proves the Norman songwriter is a master of the bedroom opus.

The nine-song "Newlyweds" EP is rife with lush and intricately crafted songs, complex songcrafting and vocal stylings reminiscent of John Lennon. And like the later years of the iconic ex-Beatle, this new release shimmers with a similarly sublime contentment.

Small is not actually a newlywed; the album's title instead meant to reflect the mood of playful optimism permeating the songs. "Newlyweds" was originally planned as a concept album following a relationship from beginning to end, but Small decided he didn't want the fictional romance to fizzle out.

NOT STERILE
Just because the subject matter is decidedly more upbeat than 2006's "Contradictions" doesn't mean that "Newlyweds" is at all sterile. Musically, Small is every bit as bold in his exploration of heavily layered orchestration, even if the new tracks lack the thematic contrast of "Contradictions." "Newlyweds" is a collection of songs that have been fiddled with and fretted over as much as Small's 9-month-old baby, which the singer said contributed to the album's prolonged recording period.

"There has been so much going on in my life," Small said. "Producing it took more time than it should have. I did 10 different versions of every song."

The result is a headphone album, with all nine tracks worthy of repeated listens by exploratory audiophiles.

"There was an obscene amount of time I put into tweaking everything," Small said. "You can hear the difference in the headphones, whether it is panned left to right or right to left, some little beep that is just there for a split second " all these things that you wouldn't notice in your car stereo." "Charles Martin