Review: Luke Carey - Stencils (EP)

I recently had the pleasure to see Luke Carey perform live at a recent Sofar Sounds gig and he was an entertaining performer flicking between serious numbers and comedy with a singing style that switched between Ed Sheeran and Eminem, and this vibe comes across successfully on his latest EP 'Stencils'.

Opener 'Jump The Gun' is a catchy, rhythmic piece that sounds like Coldplay if Chris Martin cheered up a bit, mixing a toe-tapping memorable vocal line based around the title and throwing in a whistle-led breakdown. A strong opener for the EP this is a quickly memorable indie number with a surprising number of hooks and an accomplished, crisp production sound.

'Buckledownknucklehead' is a bit more Ed Sheeran in its opening music (a comment he hilariously addresses in his catchy flow) but the delivery is much more rap-like with some funny well-observed lyrics like 'The only plaque I got this year is on my teeth'. Referencing Stormzy and Kanye this is a fun take on modern pop culture whilst building it all into a hooky chorus and verses. With the observations and hilarious takes we know from Eminem's more lighter offerings this is a great song that will make you laugh.

'God Might Forgive In A Day' is a more subdued, introspective offering with strings and more personal lyrics, all wrapped up in a nice little ballad whilst 'Something I've Found' is a good mix of tempos and nicely written lyrics and feels more heartfelt than what has come before it, and is the heart of the EP.

Things end with 'Dream So Much', the most accomplished of the songs in terms of productions and is a strong conclusion to a very strong EP. Mixing in a varied range of styles of songs from the wit of track two to the emotion of track four this is a collection of songs well worth picking up. If 2017 is not the year for Luke Carey I'll be very surprised. (7.5/10)