E.P Review: Frail Jonny - Afterlives Vol.1

 

Frail Jonny, AKA Jonathan Wright hails from Ashville, North Carolina and creates rich, expressive alternative pop with multiple themes. We got our new writer Ryan Doyle Elward to take a listen to his new E.P. 

Afterlives Vol. 1, NC artist Frail Johnny’s first major release under the moniker, begins with ‘The End of It’, by youthful vocal tones adjoined to reverb-heavy piano, where it seems to parallel for a time some of the same soft sounds and thoughtful stories found in Death Cab for Cutie’s more boyish ballads. Track one matures quickly though, taking on layers of strings mid-way and addressing ideas of impermanence. In fact, the full effect of certain elements in the first song are only felt after listening to the album in its entirety, giving the bloom of voices at the word honey - a haunting presence that comes from ruminating on painful memories.

‘Our Secrets’ continues that exploration of his past, highly specific and personal at first, then expanding into a universal struggle, the wholly-human notion of not knowing when to walk away. And in moments where his voice quivers, it only further emphasizes the vulnerability of these confessions. These aspects, added to the compressed vocals and the almost clumsily strummed acoustic, brings to mind other raw, rather stripped-down work from artists like Sleeping at Last or Sufjan Stevens.

Not that the material here has been so far underwhelming with respect to dynamism, but it isn’t until four songs in at ‘The Dog & American’s Daughter’s’ that things really pop. The fingerpicking is bright and follows an optimistic vocal pattern, altogether giving the sense that it would translate to a live performance with great success.

Bassy percussion in the latter half combined with careful clashes of distortion come just before the line “I could almost see through the Veil of Maya - which is not only quite catchy, but is also a wonderfully succinct and relatable way for Frail Johnny to frame his journey of self-rediscovery. And Afterlives in total speaks to that sentiment, of the interplay between the past and present. That, all prior life experiences are formative, yet our identity is the sum of events then plus the new ones now and nothing less.

This last year was a crucible, one which exacerbated loneliness and intensified miseries on an individual level. A consequence of such a truth is that there is no shame in resigning these horrors to the scrapbook of our era, to be but days bygone. But, if you do find yourself looking back, the courage of Frail Johnny’s documentation is a perfect companion.

rde.

You can follow Frail Jonny on Instagram, Bandcamp Soundcloud, Youtube and can find out more at frailjonny.com