Ewan Sim: Sense Of It All EP 
Self Released
Out Now
Manchester-based singer-songwriter Ewan, having recently completed sold out shows at Deaf Institute and Gullivers, releases his debut EP of soul infused pop, songs of grief and community, loss and joy. MK Bennett hops aboard.
In times of war, and do not doubt that we are at war, we need distraction, entertainment, and reminders of the joys of life. The new breed of masculine pop-soul-R&B, which broadly started with Nutini through Michael Kiwanuka to Rag’n’Bone Man and Teddy Swims, are all connected not only through the genre authenticity they occupy but also a clarity of voice, a buoy to cling to in drowning times, a living beacon of hope.
A local boy doing good, Ewan Sim, sits comfortably in this hierarchy for the most basic and undeniable reason. His voice. A wonderful thing, high and clear as cut crystal but with that slight glottal estate kid roughness to it, reminiscent of Plan B’s excursion into new/old soul, even a touch of the evergreen genius of Nina Simone, a name not easily invoked. Modernism doesn’t stand in its way but emboldens it; the up-to-date kitchen sink nature of the music means anything and everything can and will be included, but the magic pop gold dust will still fall in slow motion and the coalescence of sound will remain.
Sense of It All is a pivotal track and should by now have catapulted him into some sort of big league, as it is a Bond theme in waiting—a grand, epic, string-drenched piece of rare brilliance that is somehow reminiscent of Frankie Valli and Massive Attack. Easily a song of the year, and it is only March. Cliché, it may be, but if this lad were from Brooklyn, he would be playing the Arena. The City scans the rooftops for some other love while the beats hang in the air like claustrophobia, wet clothes clinging to the skin in cold doorways, and we all look so pretty from this height. New pop with R&B accoutrements and a one hundred per cent hit rate so far.
Souls United starts as a mournful piano ballad and another soaring vocal until a lovely subtle sub-bass meets an 80’s chorus, the music again leaving for space travel as the huge chord progression ups the ante once more, which is followed by Lost And Found, which could be a Christian song of devotion or a couple’s pledge of loyalty. It is, however, a slinky and moving machine with a sound like the love scene from a replicant’s human dream. Another great bass line underpins it, slow motion disco that drives the song forward beautifully, and as with all the other songs here, the backdrop is a perfect foil to the vocal; the simpatico production is just spellbinding.
The last song, Rest Of My Days, is a simple and singular ode to love with a haunting organ accompaniment initially, mostly a frame to rest Ewan’s substantial voice on. Short and succinct, it leaves you wanting more, or at least to start over from the beginning. The aesthetic is perfectly northern, too, with concrete brutalism and corrugated steel, moody black and white streets.
There is so much talent in Manchester and the north right now that we are in danger of real brilliance falling by the side of the road, but that cannot happen here. Beg, steal or borrow to keep this man in your cultural life, his status as a future national treasure depends on it.
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Ewan’s Instagram | Facebook | TikTok
All words by MK Bennett, you can find his author’s archive here plus his Twitter and Instagram
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- Source: NEWHD MEDIA
