• Band / Artist : Wil Deynes – mySpace
• Genre : Pop / Acoustic / Rock
• Sample Track Download : Super Wonderful
• Buy CD : CD Baby
• Buy Digital Download : iTunes
• Rating : 7.5 out of 10

I’ve been meaning to review this EP for a while, but never got around to emailing Wil. Then all of a sudden I heard him on a few podcasts and then received a couple of emails from him. It’s funny how things happen like that sometimes. This 5 track EP has a great upbeat sound to it, opening with “Super Wonderful” which introduces you nicely to Wil’s sound. His sound reminds me very much of Hootie and the Blowfish, but with much softer vocals. In fact there is a very 90’s feel to most of the tracks, not that that is a bad thing. The previously mentioned Hootie, are still one of the artists in my all time greats CD’s list.

I know I have this bug up my, well somewhere on my persona, about title tracks and have to admit, at first thought “Stay” wasn’t as strong as the rest of the tracks, which to me is like leading with your best foot far, far behind forward. I warmed to it surprisingly quickly though. It’s a relatively laid back rock track, which is great, but it is somewhat overshadowed by the track that follows “Better Way”, which for me really shows Wil in his best light.

“Better Way” again reinforces that Hootie feel, but with Wil’s voice it takes the song in a different direction, which works nicely. It’s the track I’ve heard on the majority of podcasts, so either the podcasters are agreeing with me on the strongest track, or Wil is preferring this track himself and sending it out for pod play. “Nervous” is a track that really didn’t gel well with me. There’s something about it that just didn’t sit well with me. In my head I expected the EP to end on a laid back, relaxed note, but I was wrong. The final track “Tired” however does try a different musical style, but I have to say while it was a pleasant track, it wasn’t the direction I was hoping for. Overall though an Interesting EP, which opens very strongly. The first 3 tracks are great, while the last 2 tracks just weren’t my cup of tea, but very pleasant nonetheless.

Conclusion : I couldn’t quite shake the Hootie sound, but sometimes that’s not a bad thing. A great rising talent, who I’m hoping breaks out a bit and develops more of the Wil Deynes sound.