Welcome to the delightfully obscure world of Wombat Browning! For someone who chooses for their artist name to be Wombat, that gives you a little clue as to what you might be in for on listening to this brilliant debut EP. I feel incredibly fortunate to have seen this collection of songs performed live last night on an upright piano, and the recorded versions are, contrary to the oftentimes disconnect between recordings and live solo performances, a - let's say, enhanced, version of what I witnessed. Vividly pictorial, Browning begins by taking the listener on a journey of intrigue and emotion with 'Old Glue', a tale which could be left to interpretation I suppose - 'old glue / stuck on you'. The song starts like the music to a spy movie, full sounding choruses, then descends into a heartfelt outro with sweeping strings and soft vocals. 'Hacksee Hacksaw' is more a case of eliciting grimaces and 'did I hear what I thought I heard?!' with what I can interpret as the gradual destruction of the writer's heart as his relationship falls into decline. The song has a more percussive vibe with big choruses (personally I would have made them monumentally bigger!). Concluding with 'The Dream Run', Browning plays a Cruella de Vil style intro on the piano, which is repeated throughout the song as a turnaround, joined by other instruments like a xylophone. This is the most commercial sounding song in the collection, not quite as quirky as the other two - but it still has its moments! It's hard to describe these songs without a definitive genre to shoehorn them into. Perhaps it would be better if you just listened for yourselves?
Listen to 'Old Glue' and other new releases from artists local to Worthing on our New Music Playlist: