It’s hard to pigeon hole Andrew Goldring into one sound. The First track I listened to was "Words" which was an extremely beautiful and swelling similar to the way a Sigur Ros would build one of their songs. The words act more like a separate instrument rather than a bullhorn conveying a message. I thought it was a wonderful leading track and had me hooked to listen to the rest of the EP. I also hoped this EP would help prepare me a little for when I go see Explosions in the Sky at this year’s Twilight Concert Series since I thought they were both similar genres.
Then, when I heard "Mess" I could hardly believe I was listening to the same person. It was a jazz style, sarcastic ballad. "Mess", led into "Collide" with its drowning reverb, Fleet Foxy type falsetto singing. This then led on to other very creative, and somewhat related and unrelated genres of music.
Andrew shows great talent and has some very creative ideas and unique structures which can be refreshing if combined correctly. Lyrically he also comes up with some wonderful images which avoid conformity, but many of the songs could have stronger hooks or punch lines. Two thoughts seem to be exposing themselves and reminding me of a lesson I’ve yet to learn. EPs being marketed to national labels should have a clear idea, sound, and audience in mind with all the tracks linking back to that core audience. When you’re creating a full album, you’re then allowed a bit more freedom expand your audiences’ pallet. Second, song writing is craft similar more similar to a batting average. You won’t hit it out of the park every time which is why it’s so critical to be constantly writing. Far too often artists write four or five songs and are ready to hit the studio. I had a teacher once advise me that you should write 40 songs before you ever begin pitching them. I not only believe this applies to songwriters, but to bands as well. This doesn’t guarantee success though, I read that U2 tries to follow this formula and I believe No Line on the Horizon may be their weakest album to date(although, I’d still like to hear those other 30 songs.). I digress. Andrew is a great guitarist, sings well and has awesome music taste. With more focused energy this would make a good CD a Great CD.
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