Sounds like…

Someone left all the knobs on the vocal booth on during a chamber pop performance.

The review

Acting as a prelude for his new LP, chamber-pop performer Nick Hudson has released a three-track EP this week in advance to whet your appetite. It is an alluring mix of dark lullabies, experimental noises and quirky alt-pop fun. It also made me ask the question – what if Kate Bush wanted to make an album about nihilism and had Gazelle Twin on as a guest.

The title track is the centrepiece of this EP and its where Nick Hudson showcases his unique abilities. Straying away from the hazy piano ballads that surround it, ‘Come Back When There’s Nothing Left’ chops up Nick’s vocals and plays them like a buzzing beehive. These samples mingle with the piano and then towards the songs conclusion, bend upwards like a deranged siren. It took me a few listens for it to click but it is wildly inventive whilst leaning into a dark cabaret glitter vibe too. Opening track ‘Voyeurs Who Offer Nothing’ replaces the vocal snippets with a string performance as the piano thunders on gloomily on its downcast melody. The overall feeling of the album is one of melancholy and dystopia. I felt like we were dragging heels through a void post-disaster.

Whilst that downtrodden feel works well for an EP, when Nick Hudson’s full album follows on the 30th of April, I’m secretly hoping for more chaos like the title track to follow. It is what sets Nick’s work apart from others so bring me the carnage, please! The LP is entitled ‘Font of Human Fractures’ so if you like the sound of the EP, now is a good time to seek Nick Hudson out.

Recommended track: Come Back When There’s Nothing Left

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