EP Review: Scott Swain - Isolation (2021)
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| Picture Credit: Andy Harris |
Scott Swain - Isolation
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Label: Resonating Wood Recordings
Format: Digital
Length: 17:23
Genre: Indie Rock / Alt Country
Origin: London, England
About six weeks ago, the single 'Skeletons' was featured in a news post on MangoWave. Many readers seem to share my enthusiasm for the various sounds that London-based artist Scott Swain produces - reason enough to listen to the whole EP "Isolation". The five-track release is Scott Swain's sophomore EP, and the successor of 2018's "Goodbye Country, Goodbye Home".
If you have only listened to the latest single 'Skeletons' before, you could be a little surprised that the fast movement of that off-beat anthem is not omnipresent on "Isolation". Scott Swain presents five tracks, each of them as autochthonous as it could be. The massively rolling Alternative Rock banger 'Victims' is a powerful opener featuring Del Gentilini on guitar, Michael Pettit on bass, Jack G Wrench on drums, and Rob Piper on saxophone. In the opener, Scott Swain on organ, guitars, and vocals, concerns abuse of political power by referring to the film "Taxi Driver". After the second track ('Skeletons'), the tempo of "Isolation" decreases, and a more atmospheric and soulful soundscape provides a more emotional air.
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| Picture Credit: Andy Harris |
Content-wise, the EP is very coherent in multiple ways. Scott Swain is taking on several forms of abuse and human misbehaviour - from political power as in 'Victims' and 'Skeletons', over to drug abuse and toxic codependencies as in 'Look out ahead!' and 'Here's to going forward', to the darkness that is a part of each and all of us ('Like nothing else'), "Isolation" reveals the dark side of human interaction. Secondly, coherence is given by Scott Swain's fascination for film and screenplay. The tracks on "Isolation" have been inspired by "Taxi Driver" ('Victims'), "Sleepers" ('Skeletons'), "Lost Highway" ('Look out ahead!'), "Requiem for a Dream" ('Here's to going forward'), and "Event Horizon" ('Like nothing else'). Thus, for the cineasts amongst you, this EP has a lot more to offer than just its music.
With or without that background information, Scott Swain's sophomore EP is a gorgeous work of versatile, meaningful, and soulful rock music. In less than eighteen minutes, the London-based artist gives us a lot to think about.
Music from every post will stay in the MangoRotation playlist for 14 days.
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Scott Swain Online:
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