Album Review :: Homewrecker :: Wrecker and Housepanther

by Ryan Haughey

Homewrecker is a collaborative collection of melancholic songs that tell stories of infidelity. This EP evokes a mix of emotions that altogether imprint the spirit of this music into the mind of the listener.

Creating a sinking feeling right from the introduction, Homewrecker builds up from a roll of finger picked acoustic strings with ambient synth wailings until it lurches forward with a grainy electric guitar tone driven by a bass-snare beat. Low tone vocals from Housepanther spill poetic lines of introspective lyrics, remembering a gloomy new year’s eve.

On the track titled “Passenger Party” Wrecker counts in a subdued train-snare beat and a folky guitar pattern, accompanied by a piano sparsely comping the chord progression. Singing some small talk, Wrecker is able to capture an emotional state with only a few words and bewitching music. The break in the drum pattern leaves room for the acoustic guitar to strum out an alluring hook, and then float right back into the beat.

Wrecker and Housepanther prove that you don’t need a large or complex instrumentation to create a captivating tune. Maybe the most emotionally moving song on the EP is the most simple in “Whitney”; a sorrowful, lyric driven tune about being the so-called Homewrecker.The collection of songs concludes with a duet between the two artists, who sing another melody that is haunted with agonizing feelings of affection. Listening all the way through Homewrecker is like lying on the floor next to your bed in the dark- it is alive with heartache and lingering affection.

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