Owen Chamberlain is a North Wales singer-songwriter who has made Chester his own, and ‘Morning Cry’ is the record that announces him properly. Five tracks, impeccably produced, sitting somewhere between folk and indie but wearing that space with real comfort and confidence.
Opener ‘Clock Beats’ sets the tone immediately. There is a melancholic beauty to it that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. His voice is distinctive, the kind you don’t forget quickly, and the production is clean without being cold. ‘Temple To The Wind’ follows and carries on the immaculate piano work, deepening the mood rather than breaking it. Two tracks in and the EP already feels like a coherent world.
‘Healing Sun’, a collaboration with Jenny Lily Wilde-Parkes, is where things open out. It shifts the EP into psychedelic folk territory and does it well, balancing the fragility of the first two tracks with something wider and more atmospheric. ‘Masquerade’ brings the wordplay and instrumentation back into focus, both on point throughout.
The title track closes things out and pulls all the different elements together before doing something entirely unexpected. It would be wrong to say more than that. Just let it happen.
This is the perfect summer comedown record. Warm enough to sit in the last of the light, but with the chill of autumn already somewhere in it. Chamberlain handled the recording, production, mixing, mastering and cover photography himself, with additional mixing and mastering from Dave Le Sange. For a self-produced EP it sounds genuinely class.
Have a listen below and have a fantastic week.
Dan.
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