Coming to you courtesy of Wolf Solent – the solo musical project of York multi-instrumentalist Danny Trew Barton – is ‘EP // 2’. It is the second part of a seven track Extended Play trilogy, the next sonic stage in Barton’s personal odyssey. If its predecessor Lifeboat EP // 1 had plotted a cosmic renaissance for him, then ‘EP // 2’ is surely his road map to transition.
Recorded and performed in its entirety by Barton at his home studio last year, this is the sound of a man as he moves from one life phase to another. On ‘Lifeboat EP // 1’ he was stepping out from the shadows of his previous musical experience with local garage rockers, White Firs. Here he moves across a desolate, more unstable emotional landscape, a vast empty terrain that lies between the past and the future.
Whilst still immersed in Barton’s signature sound of hazy reverb and celestial neo-psychedelia – layer upon layer of fuzzed out guitars washing over his often deeply subterranean vocals – the emphasis of ‘EP // 2’ has shifted. It is now so much less on low 
fidelity than it is on composition, texture and transparency.
For all of its dirty, scuzzy melody, opening song ‘Running Gap’ – the last track Barton wrote and recorded for this release – does embody the record’s real sense of hope as it gradually noses its way into the future. By the time that the record reaches its destination six tracks and a mere 12 minutes later, it has crossed many frontiers of sound.
With its swirling, heavenly chorus ‘Could Not Know’ breaks through the barriers of psych-pop. The record’s centrepiece ‘No Sunshine’ then recalls some of the repetitive musical structures of A Rainbow in Curved Air, had Terry Riley’s minimal masterpiece been given a voice before finding itself submerged in a deep sea of distortion. And whilst the mysticism of both ‘Hold On’ and the closing ‘Lulled’ do draw upon more established Eastern influences, they still remain wonderful vignettes of modern, blissed out psychedelia.
‘EP // 2’ captures both Danny Trew Barton and Wolf Solent in a period of transformation. It is a strong, individual and evolutionary work that signposts the way to the road that lies ahead. The final part of this musical journey of self-discovery is expected in September of this year.
But don’t just take my word for it. Listen for yourself because those good people at Sea Records have given God Is In The TV exclusive streaming rights to ‘EP // 2’ for a whole week following the record’s release on 23rd March 2015.
‘EP // 2’ by Wolf Solent comes to you via Sea Records. It is hand screen printed and limited to 150 copies. Full details can be found here
Photo credit: Jade Blood
https://soundcloud.com/info-861-1/sets/ep-2-by-wolf-solent/s-yxvsz
