EP – Yern – Julius

Posted by admin on November 17th, 2006

  • Band / Artist : JuliusmySpace
  • Genre : Acoustic / Alternative / Folk
  • Sample Track Download : The Line
  • Buy CD : Artist Site
  • Buy Digital Download : N/A
  • Rating : 9 out of 10

Every now and again, I come across an artist by mistake. With Julius (Matt Adams) it was when he was in his former incarnation of Madam. I discovered him via The Boy Lacks Patience and was eager to review his music. However the CD he had, was fairly old and he wasn’t overly keen on pushing it any more. He said he’d keep in touch though and several months later contacted me and, well Yern is the result. Although it’s nice to see him abandon the name Madam, which just brings ladies of ill repute to mind, I’m not overly enamored with the new name of Julius, which now brings to mind the thought of orange juice. Yes, I know I have a vivid imagination and it’s not something switched off easily, much to my annoyance sometimes.

The album opens with “Longing Pt. I” and really got me excited about the tracks to come. This is a track with the wonderful ebb and flow quality, that I’ve talked about a lot, but usually in more electronic and ambient releases. Here it’s a very simple arrangement of guitar, piano and strings, with some very understated vocal accompaniment. Absolutely fabulous stuff. The second track “The Line” takes a slight deviation, but more in the vocals, than anything else, with a wonderful Marc Bolan/Jeff Buckley feel to them. The music is simply stunning in it’s simplicity, but so thoughtfully arranged. OK, so we’re only two tracks in, but I’m sure you can read between the lines and see I’m very, very excited about this EP.

Listening to “Wind and Bellows” on headphones is just a sheer joy. The acoustic guitar sounds amazing and the vocals have a wonderful, natural feel to them. A very simple song, but a very enjoyable one nonetheless. “Untitled” again follows a very simplistic pattern, but here the vocals again have that Jeff Buckley feel. They also remind me a bit of The Boy Lacks Patience. “Tired” has a more aggressive guitar style and has a very familiar feel to it, reminding me of that guitar virtuoso, Gordon Giltrap. It’s still a fairly laid back tune, but has those guitar moments or outbursts, akin to a guitar almost shouting.

And so the EP finishes of as it begins, with “Longing Pt II”. This is certainly an EP that has me chomping at the bit for more material. I hope Julius is with us a long time, because this really is an incredible EP that deserves some major recognition.

Conclusion : An absolutely outstanding EP make no mistake.

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