Album: Ecki

Punchdrunk, PRODUCT

Punchdrunk is the debut album from Ecki, a 30-ish East Anglian whose reflections on matters of the heart exhibit a sharp eye for the telling metaphor, and a sharp ear for how best to present it. Whether he's basking in the "Rare Sun" of a blossoming relationship, or searching for the traces of a failed relationship "Under the Dust", Ecki finds the right phrase to illuminate the situation: "There's marks we've made here like souvenirs," he observes in the latter, while in "Back On Your Side" he hopes that "As we trade our lies/ We'll make our way back to where we collide". His settings are equally as informative, from the hurdy-gurdy, pipes and strings that help "Firesong" combust, to the wistful harmonium that underscores the sense of loss in "Paris and New York", where the protagonist is constantly reminded of his absent lover whenever he stumbles across the shoes and clothes she's left behind. "My biggest fear," Ecki asserts in his press bio, "is being seen as another miserable white boy who'

Punchdrunk is the debut album from Ecki, a 30-ish East Anglian whose reflections on matters of the heart exhibit a sharp eye for the telling metaphor, and a sharp ear for how best to present it. Whether he's basking in the "Rare Sun" of a blossoming relationship, or searching for the traces of a failed relationship "Under the Dust", Ecki finds the right phrase to illuminate the situation: "There's marks we've made here like souvenirs," he observes in the latter, while in "Back On Your Side" he hopes that "As we trade our lies/ We'll make our way back to where we collide". His settings are equally as informative, from the hurdy-gurdy, pipes and strings that help "Firesong" combust, to the wistful harmonium that underscores the sense of loss in "Paris and New York", where the protagonist is constantly reminded of his absent lover whenever he stumbles across the shoes and clothes she's left behind. "My biggest fear," Ecki asserts in his press bio, "is being seen as another miserable white boy who's trying to be an aspirational Jeff Buckley or a shoegazing Nick Drake." There's no real weight to the comparison, although there's no denying the melancholy tone of much of Ecki's material. He's clearly a man whose muse operates primarily in shades of blue - but that includes the open sky as well as dark, oceanic depths. A promising debut.