I love to be introduced to new music of all kind and though I do have my favourites, the colourful range of sounds I get to listen to and review is something I truly adore. It goes without saying that when liverpool-based troubadour Calum Gilligan reached out to me with a five-track gem of a debut EP on hand I had to venture into its lush and delicately layered soundscapes without a rush. Little did I know that I would find the perfect musical mélange for the quiet hours of the day, one best enjoyed having a hot brew in a cozy setting (furnished with a dreamy view). So, sit down, pour some tea into your mug and enjoy.
An angelic and quaint tonal aura welcomes you with poignantly picturesque opener 'So Long' introducing longingly arcadian and ambient acoustic melodies to an already entranced audience as a mellifluously radiant vocal narrative plays pleasingly along. It's a promising, euphoniously evocative prelude to what is yet to follow (and there's more darling delight to come).Gaining momentum in a pointedly modest but all the more gorgeous way, 'Otago Fox' prowls around gracefully mellow, picks up the sonic scent of sensitive, warmly buoyant vocalism and briskly floating, melodiously yearning guitar accents on the go. What a scenic storytelling beaut!
'Now I'm in love for the third time. Now that I know what it means.' – these pensive lines from 'So Long' ring true after indulging in the heartrending and emotionally untamed elegancy of 'All I Know'. Cautiously combining ardently tender and wistfully engaging tonal elements, the third track on 'Maybe Half A Lifetime' appeals to your first sense in a hauntingly cathartic yet gentle fashion, mesmerizes well and truly for all we can tell.
Evoking a charmingly cozy country feel and curating courteous storytelling ways likewise 'You Made Me Something' is really quite something indeed; something to become swiftly fond of as it paints a vividly elegant and cordial musical picture in delightfully dreamful and bright tonal hues.
It's with 'Wash Away' that Calum shows himself at his most vulnerable – and yet in full strength due to fondly blue songsmithery and alluringly affectionate melodic nostalgia at play. Blissfully enchanting at core, the EP's finishing piece takes its listeners on an emotional journey through rich and idyllic soundscapes of atmospherically attractive tonal reverb and invitingly soothing vocal tales, makes them feel as every step on this winding, however, dearly languorous road has been as fulfilling as the first few chords of the song had promised.
We've come to an end now and it should have dawned on you little by little, song by song: neither does it take so long nor half a lifetime to just possibly fall for the quintet of compositions (dis-)played. No way! You'll be (utterly) in love with all five after the first aural walkthrough, even more so after the second, the third, the fourth ... on these grounds, let's savour the venture time and again with a cup of tea or two or three ...
Less than a week left to get cheaper advance tickets (or an 'advance discount/ physical copy of 'Maybe Half A Lifetime'- bundle) for the EP launch in september (it's gonna be a musical afternoon delight at 81 Renshaw Street in Liverpool on Sunday, 8 Sep. 2019) . Go here and get in.
