End Of Year - Metanoia - Tape (2014)

Labels: Wolf Town DIY
Review by: MH

Before anyone gets confused, this is not Self Defense Family devolving back to End Of A Year. There is no A here. This is a guy from Glasgow making some sumptuous and minimal sounds that are much more quiet and fragile. It borders on ambient at times and there are no beats to speak of, no drums at least, whilst the vocals are distant and you can barely make out the words. There are four tracks on here and acoustic guitar drifts in and out with a fine blend of light strums and delicate fingerpicking. As the more experimental sounds drift in, it retains its overriding and dreamy sadness. On that note, on his Tumblr page he lays claim to being the 212th saddest person on the planet. That’s quite high! This is great music for the small hours and being in the middle of nowhere outside and all alone. I haven’t even mentioned the packaging yet. There is an antique postcard with each of the 20 that were made – that would even get my 74 year old Dad excited. Not only that but it’s all bound together by a piece of string. It looks amazing.