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Richard Walters – Pilotlights EP
Reviewed by: Antony McSweeney
And so In It For The Money's love affair with Big Scary Monsters continues. The
independent label based in Oxford can literally do no wrong. After bringing us
Yndi Halda - Enjoy Eternal Bliss at the start of the year, the latest release
from the label is, in our eyes, another huge success.
Richard Walters is a 24 year old singer/songwriter from Oxford. With his 2004
debut EP Umbrella Songs receiving tremendous reviews the world over (so much
in fact, that his song All At Sea was recently used for an episode of the TV
show CSI - Miami!) and the world seemingly at his feet, new EP Pilotlights demonstrates
a tremendous talent and one seemingly beyond his years. The EP starts off with
Iceskaters and starts with what could easily be misconstrued as footsteps within
a freshly snow layered floor. As Richards voice is introduced you know you're
in for something that little bit special. It washes over you, every bit of it
perfection. The lyrics are poignant and have the ability to send a chill down
you, as demonstrated perfectly on What Weighs Me Down, 'What weighs me down
today could be turning in your chest'.
With a vocal talent such as this, the instrumental side could easily be overlooked.
It appears that it's losing a pre-determined race, but this isn't perhaps necessarily
so, it's subtly there and is used to great effect. The use of violins throughout
What Weighs Me Down is mesmerising in its simplicity and effect. As Walter's
voice increases in volume the violins are ever present, and it's almost too
perfect to put into words. Garden Song begins with a choral arrangement and
again has the additional use of strings to an impressive effect and continually
throughout showcases Walter's song writing craftsmanship.
Pilotlights is a huge success for both Richard Walters and Big Scary Monsters
who have shown again that they're showcasing the some of the best British talent
across a number of genres. Walter's songs are haunting, they have the ability
to lift you in some parts and in others to send a chill down your spine. There's
no doubting this talent and it's one that is surely destined for much greater
things.
Source: www.initforthemoney.net
Richard Walters – Pilotlights EP
Reviewed by: Stephen Eddie
Another week, another male singer-songwriter adept at picking beautifully on his
acoustic guitar. One that’s had his music appear in a massive US TV show,
CSI: Miami, no less. But 23 year-old Richard Walters from Oxford (also the home
of the equally talented songstress, George Pringle) is unlike the Blunts, Morrisons
and Gonzalez-es of this world. For a start, he’s not signed to some multinational
label, but to Big Scary Monsters, the indie home of punks and post-rockers like
This Town Needs Guns and Yndi Halda.
Admittedly, the first two songs here, ‘Iceskaters’ and ‘Elephant
In The Room’, do tip towards Coldplay and their like: the former is not
too distant from Keane’s hit, ‘Bedshaped’, and Walter’s
voice is sometimes reminiscent of Tom Chaplin, but he has more in common with
ex-BSM man Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly and Transgressive’s Jeremy Warmsley
if anyone. This is not music for arenas though, or even Carling Academies, but
for places much, much smaller. Walter’s songs are vulnerable and very human;
they have the potential to connect with people. ‘Garden Song’ is haunting
and remarkable in the fact the strings and choir used actually add to the track.
‘What Weighs Me Down’ and ‘We Have Your Head’ (the best
song on the EP) showcase Walters’ craftsmanship expertly. He certainly has
talent, and he certainly knows how to make songs that will make people move. Give
him time and Richard Walters could be a really wonderful and affecting artist.
Rating: 7.5/10
Out 26th February on Big Scary Monsters
Source: www.disordermagazine.com
Richard Walters: Pilotlights EP
Reviewed by: Ben Yates
Searching for new music on MySpace can be disconcerting. If you browse by genre
– ‘Acoustic’, for example – you have 250,000 acts to choose
from. Of course, unless you’re forcing yourself into an early retirement,
you’re almost completely reliant on the media, and conversely the labels
to sift through the endless piles of demos and mp3s for you. And that’s
what the Big Scary Monsters label has done, with the result coming in the form
of one of the first promising EPs of 2007.
Richard Walters is a singer-songwriter based in Oxford. He plays acoustic guitar
like most uniform songwriters, but where their subsequent output manages only
to cater to the tastes of those excited by the melange of bland folk-rock, Walter
deviates from the path. That’s not to say that he is a rebel – Walters
isn’t spearheading a musical revolution of sorts – but he is re-inventing
a tired subject and making it sound exciting again.
His voice is fragile, the outcome of years of experience and heartbreak. The lyrics
are dripped in melancholy, a paradox to such joyous and beautiful music. The Pilotlights
EP is the best showcase of this – five tracks of lo-fi, low-key acoustics
which extol the beauty of Walters’ talent. ‘We Have Your Head’
is the EP-defining highlight, which despite being the least boastful of tracks
comes across as the most memorable, with Walters whispering a soft-spoken falsetto
behind an atmospheric combination of acoustic and electric guitars. Drums and
pianos come into fruition during the EP, too, wrestling for attention with Walters’
all-consuming voice.
The Pilotlights EP proves unequivocally that there is still life and innovation
bubbling under the surface of an over-saturated market. The future holds a lot
of promise for Richard Walters.
Rating: 7/10
Source: www.drownedinsound.com
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