Apathetic EP

Untitled

Apathetic EP is the fifth EP released by Relient K. It was released on November 8, 2005, and was initially packaged with copies of Mmhmm, but is also available separately. The EP reached #94 on the Billboard 200.

Track listing

All songs written by Matt Thiessen

1. "The Truth" – 3:18
2. "Apathetic Way to Be" – 3:21
3. "Be My Escape (Acoustic)" – 4:02
4. "Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet (Acoustic)" – 2:44
5. "Over Thinking (Acoustic)" – 4:09
6. "In Like a Lion (Always Winter)" – 3:43
7. "The Thief" – 2:22

Notes and trivia

• "Apathetic Way to Be" is a bonus track on vinyl pressings of Mmhmm.
• Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes (Thiessen's solo side project) performed "The Thief".
• A tentative track listing, posted on the Gotee Records website a month before the CD's release, listed an acoustic version of "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" as an eighth track. This acoustic version later appeared on the song's single.
• Matt Thiessen has said that there is an acoustic version of "Over Thinking" on this EP because they weren't quite happy with the original version on Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do.
• Dave Douglas sings solo on the first verse and on the chorus of "Apathetic Way to Be".
• "In Like A Lion (Always Winter)" is based on the book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was originally written in case the band was asked to do a song for the same movie's "Music Inspired By" album. "The Truth" was written for the same reason, but the words were changed for that song once the band realized that neither song would make it onto the album. Both songs were then placed on this EP. Matt Thiessen said that "The Truth" was originally about how everyone wouldn't believe the character of Lucy, although she'd never lied to them before, but he then changed it to fit a relationship with God.
• This EP is dedicated to the band's friend, Aaron Marrs, who was lost at sea in January 2005. He had appeared on the cover of the Employee of the Month EP. Aaron Marrs had helped designed many album covers, some of which were for Relient K.
• Even though the song "The Truth" was never officially released as a single, it still received lots of airplay and stayed #1 on the CCM charts for seven consecutive weeks.
• A very early run of the EP contained a very high-pitched ringing sound on most of the songs due to an engineering error relating to the way acoustic guitars were recorded. This was fixed in later runs.
• The song "In Like A Lion (Always Winter)" is included in Let it Snow, Baby... Let it Reindeer, the new Christmas album from Relient K.[1]
• The song "Apathetic Way to Be" contains the line "Like it's a life or death affair", which sounds remarkably close to "Like kissing leopards at the fair", so much so that the line appeared that way on certain lyrics sites when the EP first came out.
• Brian Pittman had appeared on every release by Relient K up to this point, but his last appearance with the band was a year earlier on the album Mmhmm. His bass work will appear on the band's 2007 Christmas album Let it Snow, Baby... Let it Reindeer however, as the album contains old songs from their 2003 Christmas release Deck the Halls, Bruise Your Hand.

Credits

• Matt Thiessen – lead vocals, guitar, piano, organ, bells
• Matt Hoopes – guitar, backing vocals
• Dave Douglas – drums, backing vocals
• John Warne – bass, backing vocals
• Jon Schneck – guitar, banjo, mandolin, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Mark Lee Townsend – acoustic guitar and twelve string guitar on "In Like A Lion (Always Winter)"
• Davy Baysinger – additional vocals on "The Truth"
• Pete Prevost – additional vocals on "The Truth"
• Derek Kern – additional vocals on "The Truth"