ULYSSES WELLS will release his much-anticipated debut EP ‘Can’t Take It Much Longer’ on 25th September 2020 via Du Monde Records.
The arrival of ‘Can’t Take It Much Longer’ marks the opening of a coherent collection of EPs, channelling his soaring atmospheric guitars with distinctive gritty vocals; introspecting deeply into Wells’ mania and resultant crawl back to serenity. The release is also his first with Du Monde Records, having been signed by Woody – from Bastille – who owns the label after catching Wells’ irrepressible live performance whilst on the road together last year.
Hailing from Banbury in Warwickshire, Wells spent the months locked away honing this new body of work in a shed. The first track of the EP ‘Fooled’ batters its way into the room swinging its fists and marking the arrival; boasting a killer bass line and a squalling, hair-raising guitar solo. ‘You Walked Out’, meanwhile, walks a tightrope over electronic, hip hop and scuzzy punk as Wells spits out agonised, distorted vocals over a masterfully epic yet brutal soundscape. Effectively the beginning of a “B-Side” to the EP, ‘Can’t Take It Much Longer’, the title track, gradually introduces us to a mollified style in Wells, and builds into an explosion of emotion and previously unheard influences. ‘Drift’, the final track of the EP, is conversely stripped back, fully exposing Wells through the closeness of its delivery, and leaves the door a touch ajar for EP2.
Ulysses Wells said of the release; “I’ve used 3 main themes to write these EPs, with ‘Can’t Take It Much Longer’ based on “contemplation”. For this first EP the songs stretch back 3 years and give contrast to what people have previously heard, to share a gentler side.
I used lock down to pull unfinished tunes out of the fridge and rework and produce them, working via Skype with the band and producer/mixers. ‘Can’t Take It Much Longer’ is the first song I have produced myself, with most of the tracking of the EP completed either in my sisters flat in West Ealing or in Liverpool with the fantastic Rich Turvey.”
His use of quirky electronic effects and unusual “glitchy” guitar models, along with nods to forward-thinking artists such as Tame Impala, Little Simz and the Black Keys, give his music a futuristic edge that, until now, has been sorely lacking in modern British guitar driven music. Wells spent much of 2019 generating a formidable reputation as an unmissable live artist through touring with aforementioned Bastille and Barns Courtney; he is raring to get back to shows after the interruptions of 2020 – the foundations are deep and Wells’ axe sharpened.
