The archetype of the isolated, hyper-prolific songwriter has all but erupted into cliche by now. Why release tens of basement four-track demos when really only a handful will be worth sharing? Gambles (aka Matthew Siskin of New York) keeps laconic, responding to the hype around his debut song "Trust" with several months of silence. Now, he's followed up that track with another that's just as sparse, albeit angrier. While Gambles' online profiles might point to a kind of digital-age Daniel Johnston mania--crude drawings and hand-scrawled phrases litter his Facebook and Tumblr--his music invokes early Leonard Cohen in its enigmatic lyrics and unnerving spaciousness. It's as if something between Siskin's guitar and his voice is lurking in the shadows, just waiting to jump out.
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