Ross Palmer is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, engineer/producer and music blogger, living in a south-east London.
On his 30th birthday his heart failed and he was told he would physically impaired for the rest of his life and may need a transplant.
Instead, over the next year he got better – so he decided to make the most of his second chance.
Now he writes songs – performs, records and mixes.
He plays drums for Sumner – and he records and produces artists including Yo Zushi and James McKean.
We listened to his “Reassurance” EP:
Lead song ‘Reassurance’ almost waltzes.
It swaggers – lazy on its hips. The voice drawls.
The song tries to remain optimistic – but the pace holds no sense of luck.
This is like a black-hearted gunslinger ballad – a dusty trail song delivered by a shotgun messenger. The message is delivered too late. We feel the calamity.
‘That’s Not You’ shines a little brighter than ‘Reassurance’.
Filled with vibrato, the pace is slow and tense. But you feel hollow – as if you have been missing something in the heart of the protagonist.
This is another song that speaks of emptiness – but this time studied within someone else.
‘Little Differences’ arrives with a neat flourish on the drums.
The songs-words meditate and languish in the luxury of their own tears. This seems drenched by inadequacy, doubt and expectant mercy.
Overall, this EP is dour.
Not nearly so merry as one would expect.
It is a bunch of gunslinger’s odes.
If you like validated introspection – and hidden depths – perhaps you will find something interesting here.
But where is the Joie de vivre?
@neilmach © 2014
Link:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ross-Palmer-music/
RAW RAMP 