Of Course Jeni's Ice Cream Started A Band

If any ice cream company was going to start up a band of employees and produce a four-track EP, Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream in Columbus, Ohio, would be it (sure, Ben & Jerry's did an event with Fun., but Fun. never worked at Ben & Jerry's). 

A little four-track EP bounced into our inboxes yesterday from a certain Jeni's Company Band, titled "Flavors From Earth: The Album." Turns out that Jeni's launch of Flavors From Earth holiday ice cream flavors (like an amazing sweet potato and torched marshmallow flavor) is also the launch of the band's EP.

"Jeni's has been building ice creams from the ground up for 10 years and for the better part of the past decade, they've employed a crew of artists, photographers, writers, and musicians," the liner notes say. So several musicians and Jeni's employees decided to start a band (because, why not) and recorded three original songs, plus a cover of the Byrds' "Eight Miles High."

The resulting EP? Dreamy, folks-y, and perfect for the wintry days ahead (the ice cream and album designs are supposed to evoke "emotions associated with winter in Columbus.") "If we sent our box our ice cream out into space hoping to make some friends, what flavors would we choose?" Jeni Britton Bauer told us. "They're not really sci-fi ice creams, so that was the theme we gave them: Deep winter and somewhat spacey."

The ice cream flavors include the aformentioned sweet potato, as well as maple walnut, cranberry royale sorbet, lime and lingonberries fro-yo, boozed-up eggnog, and chocolate peppermint. Flavors From Earth: The Album's tracklist includes three original songs, "Is It Cold," "Let Go," and "The Flurries, Wild and White," plus "Eight Miles High." When listening to "Is It Cold," Bauer recommends eating the sweet potato ice cream. "It's sort of about this breakup and wondering about the other, the ex, and I think that's pretty comforting, that flavor," she said.

The album will be on iTunes and Spotify starting today, but all ice cream deliveries from Jeni's will include a free digital download, so you can easily eat-cry your sweet potato ice cream. And to prove that the band is legitimately hip, they're even releasing a vinyl edition out mid-December.