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Image: Vasili Papathanasopoulos
On his debut EP, Warbaby is letting the music do the talking. The Wollongong based musician, Dylan Rodgers, has crafted an impeccable cowboy western inspired EP, Songs For The Living.
Mastered by his Left Side Filter bandmate Blake Lauricella, the release begins with cowboy spaghetti western influences, the EP starts to turn and incorporate softer sounds, slowing down from the faster pace in which Songs For The Living kicks off with.
The Ratchet Cowboys of Bareback Ridge utilises distorted guitar sounds to create the dramatic tension we all love to see in cowboy western films. While Cowboys Escape begins with cowboy spaghetti sounds, the song takes a turn three quarters in, into a more euphoric and liberated soundscape. Perhaps by this point the cowboys have made their escape to freedom.
On Trouble In The East, Warbaby seems to bridge all of the sounds exhibited on the release into one song. The western melodies start to slow down, tying in the different sides of the release into one smooth package. Song To Sleep To is a lullaby that will have you dreaming of tropical climates and summer vacation. In Memory of Larney The Lizard (We Rode On) provides a moment of contemplation on the release. The track is not as high spirited as the rest of the release but provides warm guitar lines that provide comfort.
The tracks are less prescriptive than lyrical music, allowing listeners to form their own ideas and interpretations with the sounds presented to them. The songs provide a greater capacity to provoke imaginative interpretations in ways that lyrical tracks sometimes can not provide, due to the lyrical content driving the listeners thought process.
Even though the tracks lean towards western influences, there are moments of clarity and contemplation throughout the release. The musician has curated a body of work that holds its own, whilst filed with twists and turns that engages listeners to create their own narrative whilst they take a ride through the Wild West.
Songs For The Living is out now! Watch Warbaby’s exclusive live performance of In Memory of Larney The Lizard (We Rode On) below.