Ciaran Wright – aka CIARS – is back in Worcester a year after graduating with a degree in Biochemistry. In addition to conducting experiments in the lab, he clearly found time to mix and match musical influences in his bedroom/artisan studio. With Reece Morgan on drums and Kai Mellor on bass, CIARS has just finished a mini tour, which concluded with a performance at Lakefest. His EP Madeline is such a stunningly accomplished feat of alchemy, you might as well call him a grunge wizard like I just did.
First track ‘Fade Out (Intro)’ sounds like a collab involving Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column and Welsh musician and YouTube sensation Ren. It’s just over a minute long, but the disappointment caused by its brevity is immediately assuaged by the first few chords of the EP’s title track. CIARS sings “it pains me to remember,” and the pain in his voice reminds one of a frontman from a Seattle band who are still quite popular. (You’re not allowed to say “it sounds like Nirvana” in a music review coz that’s like saying “I just really like this record and I think you should buy it.” I don’t write the rules, only bad jokes.)
What you want when the sun sets at a festival is a song like ‘Timepiece’, which is as epic as Doves and, in the second half, as frantic as My Vitriol. That energy seeps into the beginning of recent single ‘Golden Leaves’, which takes the chord progression from the Manic Street Preachers’ ‘No Surface All Feeling’and makes it all jaunty à la Supergrass. The guitar solo at the end makes Nuno Bettencourt sound extremely basic. Final track ‘Wisteria’ allows us a breather before building a gorgeous Foals-like crescendo.
Mention must be made of Smashing Pumpkins, whose fuzzed-up guitars and hooks have also inspired fantastic recent releases by Liang Lawrence and Merpire. But this is CIARS’ moment: his Madeline moment, which you’ll want to keep playing and replaying.
Madeline is out on 29th August – you can pre-save it.