Coming out of Salisbury is the debut EP from Lucus Hardy of The City Calls, who has crafted something rather special.
Starting proceedings is the melancholic “Blood, Sweat, & Tears”, it’s strong opening keeps you hooked with your focus on the vocals, especially the, repeated, line “The worse thing that I ever did was quitting music so young”, that leaves wanting to know more of the back story to the track!
“City by The Sea” continues this downbeat feel as you are led into the track by the gentle guitar, as Lucas takes you on a journey of rebirth, and love. Without the force of the opening track, but just as powerful, with the line “I left the old me, in that city the sea”
“Bug” ups the tempo with its acoustic-pop sound, again your focus is drawn to the vocals more than the music. Using a tambourine and hand claps as it’s primary rhythm section, you quickly realise that your foot is tapping away, and you are humming along. This track seems so simple on the surface, but evolves into a very dynamic and complex summery piece.
The pace slows once again for “Sail Faith” with a gentle mix of guitar and keyboard, and is a fitting close to this tremendous EP. With it’s folk soundings you cannot help but think that Lucas put blood, sweat, and tears into his work. Now I am not sure if this is a collection of songs about love, life, regret, or rebirth. Possibly all four, but it comes across as a deeply personal journey.
The EP is available from http://lucashardy.bigcartel.com/product/the-blood-sweat-tears-ep for the princely sum of £2.
Link
https://www.facebook.com/TheLucasHardy
Words by Jon, department of exceedingly late reviews.
