Sebastian Bell: WOMB - EP

Smart wee EP from a clever musician who is one to watch. And more importantly, to listen to...

Sebastian Bell

WOMB - EP

Independent/Bandcamp

Wellington-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sebastian Bell is wise beyond his years and super-talented. And if you need further proof just listen to his EP, WOMB. He makes most of the sounds, and the songs feel not only robust, but like they’ve been standing as monuments for decades; belying their author and performer’s age.

Opener, Blame coasts along on a drum-machine with a hooky little riff leading the way and great lyrics driving the tune. It’s infectious indie-pop. And feels like it should be in a TV show or a movie, opening credits music.

Next up is News, which is more circumspect, and feels like the sort of songs Don McGlashan was writing in the middle-years of the Mutton Birds.

Armageddon Ode reminds me of when The Phoenix Foundation felt vital, its lyrics (“because the dishes don’t wash themselves” and “we can’t save ourselves to save ourselves”) would surely join the slacker/bedsit pantheon, if they could ever be fucked.

And then the closer is Year. Another slower, softer, quieter ode, acoustic guitar the framework – but a deft melodic grace means that Bell’s voice shadows the guitar line and builds the song up into something much bigger than its deceptive opening.

There are only four songs. It only runs for 16 minutes. But I hear the future. I hear possibilities. I hear enough to know that I want to hear a lot more.