EP Review :: Tenterhook - Tenterhook

Tenterhook

Tenterhook

August 25 2014 (Cartoon Records)

8/10

Words: Linn Branson

He may still be the tender side of 20 years of age, but Archie Faulks is already practised in producing music with such delicacy and artistry to leave many others trailing in his wake. This four-track collection, recorded at The Crypt Studios with Anthony Leung, of slow-burning, beguiling heart-tuggers is music to transport you. Close your eyes, let yourself sink into both Faulks' emotion rife vocals, and the melodies that swim around in opalescent drifts, and you will be well and truly hooked.

‘Stereo’, the first of the three tracks that the London-based singer-songwriter has released, was the initial opportunity that many had to assess this newcomer's work, and established his signature sound: yearning falsetto that builds over crisp piano notes, soaring chorus and beautifully worked melody.

'Chemicals' travels in a similar direction, yet lends itself to leaner acoustics with guitar the dominant feature. Both this track and 'London Heart' strike a reminiscent chord, vocally, with the young Brian Kennedy at the time of his first work, 'The Great War Of Words' in 1990. The latter number,  which also features Stephanie Fraser, takes the pace down a notch further employing just vocals, strings, and piano that shapeshift before bursting into a bed of echoing drum reverb and distorted vocals.

While all these three have already been aired online, what hasn't is possibly the best of the four: 'All Out'. That this is the last song on the EP reeks of it being tucked away as a little hidden gem for the listener to happen upon just when perhaps they may have thought they'd already heard the best and this was a last-minute filler.

'All Out' stands out - all six-and-a-half minutes of it - not just as the diamond of the bunch, but also perhaps as an indication of where his first full-length may be heading: down a more expansive, fuller-sounding road. Finger-picking guitar that leads gradually to gentle background drums, before opening out into his vocal, which really stretches to reach the highest notes here: "Supposed to teach me how to live/But now you suffocate my will to forgive." It is a track that will draw you back time and time again.

Can we have some more please, Mr. Faulks?