Posts Tagged ‘A Demo By’
Review: Ethan Waters, “A Demo By” EP
Ethan Waters: A Demo By EP
100% acoustic songs and the continuation of a nostalgic search-for-love narrative. A-. (Update 20/11: The fact that it’s still a repeated feature on my music playlist means I must give credit where credit is due!)
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John Lennon once said that “everything is clearer when you’re in love”, and Ethan Waters heartily affirms this in his latest EP, A Demo By.
The Auckland University graduate film student – also known as Dennis Liu in the daylight hours – made a last-minute change to an album that initially promised a graduation into the daring pop music world. A Demo By now offers five brand-new tracks: a reprise of his tried-and-true acoustic sound that’s at times familiar, but earnest and genuine all the same.
As the natural sequel of his debut EP, Crushes and Waves, this EP picks up right from where the last one ended (even carrying over some of his previous melodies). At first you wonder how much more about life and love Waters can expand on – but Waters reassures us right from The Reminder that he’s got more to sing about.
Waters presents the kind of love songs that you’d play to your significant other on a guitar, accompanied by the picnic basket and blanket overlooking scenic innocence. He’s on the verge of asking her out in Vacancy, sincerely asking “if there’s a vacancy in your heart”. And there’s Tailoring Me, a secular psalm that’s an odd juxtaposition between platonic and romantic love, the lyrics swathed with wistfulness akin to John Mayer’s Daughters.
Waters is a touch more forthcoming with his influences in this EP: All Your Different Names is tender, earnest and half Glen Hansard elegy, half David Tao ballad (without the vagaries of Mandarin lyrics). His choruses are as always full of gentle hooks, whether it’s declaring that “I’m not ready for you to relax…”, or serenading to “Constance, you’re just Constance”. There’s even the pleasant surprise of some beautiful violin-playing that introduces listeners to his classically-trained side.
Admittedly, A Demo By still has a reliance on lyric-writing that’s closer to scattered short-story prose. The words can at times drift perilously those to Evermore-style existentialism (e.g. “Floating in a ‘blind me’ kind of way | across the universal skies”). And the closing track Maybe You’ll Sing gives a less conclusive ending than in his previous EPs. Yet there’s no doubting that this is an album that’s been diligently crafted: it’s wonderfully and fearfully made in a way that captures the nostalgia of dreamy college years.
If you were anticipating from Waters a metamorphosis into a pop star, then stifle your disappointment and take some bated breaths. Waters has promised fans digital single releases for the future – in his own words, “you’re a reminder that I should never stop writing.”
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Contact the artist: waters dot ethan (at) gmail dot com
For music videos and more visit: www.ethanwaters.com; www.myspace.com/ethanwaters
Disclosure: Dennis Liu is a close friend; there are no financial relationships to declare.
Contact the author: lemmingz@gmail.com