Storytell’s 5-song EP “Swamp, Prairie, and Desert” (“SPD”) picks up with its own elemental themes where last year’s 10-song LP “Earth, Love, and Roses” left off, but with a twist.

“Swamp,” as an element in SPD, is provided by “Mr. Limpet,” a lazy, blues-infused float down a meandering river, punctuated by playful stream of consciousness lyrics and a dirty harmonica. “Prairie” is represented by the third song “Dirdee Dir,” a tongue-in-cheek reaction to the mid-1990’s “new country” scholck Tony DiCarlo and Pix experienced when changing radio stations on a cross country trip.

The last two songs, “Rosalita” and “Nomad,” embody the desert in SPD. “Rosalita” is a tai chi olde west tale, told from the prospective of protagonist Lonesome Willie, about a lady of ill repute named Rosalita and the philandering Billy Gun. Lonesome Willie’s side kick Skeeter makes an appearance as Willie’s better angel in your stereo’s right side speaker during Rosalita’s slide solo. Bloated, diseased coyotes appear in the form of a cello poorly played by Pix throughout the song.

It’s unconfirmed, but Lonesome Willie may also be the protagonist in “Nomad,” the story of a drifter/wandering mendicant’s journey in search of himself through a mythical desert with a river, or maybe he’s running from something in his past?

The big “twist” of SPD is the second track “Finster.” Not really a song per se, “Finster” is an eponymous sound painting of childhood dreams and familial woe. What band did Finster join, as the last line of dialogue suggests? Was it the same band that spawned “Dirdee Dir”? The Storytell lore continues…