To some extent, this EP — culled from songs left off last year's Narrow Stairs — feels like a Death Cab for Cutie sampler pack: "Little Bribes" is a return to the jaunty guitar rock of The Photo Album; the driving "I Was Once a Loyal Lover" is the Seattle foursome at their poppiest; and the riff-based "My Mirror Speaks" would have fit perfectly on 2005's Plans. "These eyes don't shine half as bright/As they used to do/And they haven't for quite a while," Ben Gibbard croons on "Mirror," making it abundantly clear that — 12 years into his band's career — he's nowhere close to running out of things to be sad about.

“The A Team”

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.