After listening to his latest EP, one thing is clear about UK artist Fredwave; he is no FAILURE. Clocking in just under 18 minutes, this latest EP is a moody, grim and beautiful journey into the mind of an artist.
The EP, which is one continuous mix, kicks off with a woman speaking to a friend on the phone about signing up for JSA (Job Seeker’s Allowance). After nearly three minutes of conversation over some moody synths, Fredwave makes his entrance. His first track is a downtrodden one. He speaks about failure, constantly repeating, the line “I’ve been here before.” As the title suggests, this EP is a dark and self-aware project, and his first track brings that home. Both his voice and the instrumentation on the song do well to convey his dismay as he wrestles with his feelings.
Though it is a joy hearing an artist pour so much emotion into a song, the EP does not remain as downbeat as the first song. His second track starts off with a thumping drumbeat and deals with Fredwave’s reluctance about relationships, “Why go on and on, I’m only going to break your heart.” What’s more, his drops an incredibly groovy guitar solo towards the end of track two, bringing another layer of emotion as the guitar wails and cries.
Like the song preceding it, track three is more upbeat while dealing with a failure. This time, however, Fredwave is working out a possible future mistake and the issues that could come with it. “Save me, Lord, I pray I don’t pay for my wrongs.” Though the songs have a similar sound, Fredwave does a fantastic job on track three to bring something new to the table. The productions feel chaotic and minimalistic yet breath with the anguish and stress that comes with fretting over the future.
To close things out with his fourth and final track, Fredwave slows things down a bit. “My life is crumbling,” he nearly screams over the gloomy synths. His finale feels like that peak moment where everything falls on top of your head at once.
Overall, FAILURE is an impressive EP that flawlessly blends genres to deliver a moody and genuine account of what it’s like to be an artist. If this is what FAILURE sounds like, here’s hoping Fredwave continues to fail over and over and over again.
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