Evan Jewett of San Jose’s Worker Bee has been keeping himself busy lately.

Worker Bee has a new, self-titled EP out that you can download for whatever price you want to pay via the widget below. It’s a five-song set of indie rock with experimental/noise leanings, but above all you can hear the band’s commitment to solid songwriting on each track. They take the simplest elements—guitar, voice, drums, occasional electronic flourishes, and, most importantly, the spaces between these elements—and weave them into songs that are hypnotic in their understated beauty.

Jewett also recently released an album with his other project Family Room. The album is called Rake and, while it has an almost folky touch to it, it sometimes registers a bit darker and is certainly much more lush than Worker Bee’s sound. Rake features a lot of different instrumentation, with the emphasis on quality songwriting still very much present.

Jewett has produced two very solid releases out of the South Bay. We’ll be sure to let you know when either of these bands is on its way up north.