{"id":12753,"date":"2024-09-17T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/?p=12753"},"modified":"2026-05-07T19:30:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T00:30:25","slug":"ep-review-fold-paper-4to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2024\/09\/17\/ep-review-fold-paper-4to\/","title":{"rendered":"EP Review :: Fold Paper :: 4TO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Mykhailo Vil\u2019yamson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever wonder what you would get if you folded a piece of paper twice and then cut the creased lines? Me neither. But maybe I\u2019ll do it sometime and make a pamphlet from those four double-sided pages about how much I dig Fold Paper\u2019s debut EP 4TO<\/em>. Until then, you\u2019ll have to settle for what\u2019s written here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

While the single \u201cMedical Jargon\u201d was the first to be released back in March 2023 \u2013 which reminded me of early Bloc Party material \u2013 frontperson Chell Osuntade (who people might know as the bassist from Julien\u2019s Daughter) brought things in a different direction with these four songs. Self-described as a \u201cpost-punk wannabe,\u201d this is an apt categorization for the band and functions well for what dropped on July 12th of this year. Exploring themes of personal frustration, duplicity, social critique and family history, the sound matches the content: it\u2019s multilayered and complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It begins in a haze of lo-fi \u2013 guitar feedback coupled with a keen, repeating drumline whose tone becomes progressively clear and dialed-in. The subsequent two minutes of \u201cEnd Zone\u201d before vocals come in provide listeners with a taster of what to expect\u2026it\u2019s playful and stratified; navigating dissonance and beauty. There\u2019s ample delay used in this first track as well as some variations in tempo, and it bleeds right into the second song \u201cIdle Idle.\u201d A post-punk revival spirit really shines through in this one, with gnarly guitars, hard-hitting beats, and sharp jabs at human fickleness and status quo clich\u00e9d mores. As for \u201cNothing to Report,\u201d lots of sarcasm regarding expectations and \u201cmeasuring up\u201d to others \u2013 reinforced by some audio instructions from the dreaded aerobic capacity \u201cBeep Test.\u201d Steady bass and drums throughout, matched with querulous electric noise. There\u2019s also a sweet music video for this first single, where we see Osuntade alongside some other familiar YWG musicians. And this brings us to \u201cCome Down Awkward,\u201d which seems to be a critique directed to a particular person (or type of individual); perhaps related to a fall from grace? Unsure. But the way that stream-of-consciousness-like lyrics intermingle with instrumentation that disintegrates and gets reconstructed is absolutely worth a listen.Fold Paper is Chell Osuntade (vocals, guitar, bass), Brendyn Funk (guitar), and Rob Gardiner (drums). It\u2019s also notable that all of the songs on 4TO<\/em> are over four minutes in length each, which is increasingly less common these days\u2026so this is especially nice to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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