Wolf Vanwymeersch: The Early Years

Flemish musician Wolf Vanwymeersch made a name for himself in bands like Waldorf and The Van Jets - the latter peddled an updated version of Krautrock with dance elements. He had written a stack of more straightforward songs that did not quite the band format, so he took a leap of faith and released The Early Years as a solo album. It is not unusual for a first outing to use the freedom to explore various genres that were not part of the musical vocabulary of the bands an artist played in. With a bit of folk, a dash of electronics, and advanced singer-songwriter licks on acoustic guitar Vanwymeersch says goodbye to his father (I'm Wide Awake), welcomes his kid into the world, and looks back on his youth.

Melancholy is the key emotion, and with a gentle vibrato in his voice he sounds like he is sitting right in front of the listener. Stand-out track Come As You Will will delight and baffle aspiring guitarists. Wolf Vanwymeersch can hold his own as a solo act, but he will have to explain to his daughter why he thought it was a good idea to use a photo of her for the album's cover, once she hits puberty and starts asking questions.