Newcastle singer-songwriter Harry Clouston’s debut EP 95 is a wonderful mix of slow acoustic tracks and more upbeat guitar rock, similar to something you might hear from Damien Rice. On my first listen, I was really blown away by the professional sound, especially considering all the instruments – bar one drum part – were played by Clouston himself.
The opening track, ‘Grow’, is a lovely, bare-bones piano ballad, reminiscent of Tom Odell as the vocals reach an emotional height in the last chorus; middle tracks ‘This Boy’ and ‘Your Eyes Fall’ then lead the EP to a sound more akin to John Mayer, with mellow guitar chords and basslines. Lyrically, the switches between 3rd and 1st person in ‘This Boy’ add interest to the standard love song, and there’s more depth in ‘Your Eyes Fall’, with the refrain “it’s true love for the most of it / true love for a time”. There are also some beautiful harmonies in these two tracks, particularly in the opening of ‘Your Eyes Fall’.
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The final song, ‘Time’, hasn’t yet been released on Harry’s Soundcloud, but I can tell you it’s a brilliant closer! With upbeat drums and a much faster tempo than the rest of the EP Davidson & Co, it ends 95 on a more rock-sounding note, and could again be likened to John Mayer. Here, the raspy vocals really shine through, adding a raw element to the slick guitar riff and creating a really great atmosphere.
As a whole, 95 is very promising for Harry, and really showcases a lot of musicality and talent. The first three tracks are available to stream on Soundcloud, and I’d really recommend keeping an eye out for the release of ‘Time’ (you can hear a teaser here)! It will be very interesting to see where Harry goes from here.
Words by Priya Bryant