Our exclusive Mus-o-meter registers Great Elk

Before there was Great Elk, there was just Paul Basile. The singer-songwriter honed his sparse, visceral folk songs as a solo act, before recruiting a band to liven things up a bit and back his gravelly vocals (hear them live at Bar4 tonight). But to truly get a sense of the band’s sound, we leave that up to the math of the Mus-o-meter.

Take the sparse, guitar-centric arrangements of Damien Rice’s 2003 album, “O.” Then add …

The rambling fun of Bright Eyes 2005 album, “I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning.” Then add …

The haunting emotion and introspection of Bon Iver’s 2007 debut, “For Emma, Forever Ago.” The sum?

Great Elk’s new, self-titled EP.