American musician Francis Fell brings something of a retro vibe to these pages with his new self-titled EP, also named Francis Fell. The record only contains three tracks, but it’s enough to leave you longing for more, as the songs on offer here are extremely powerful. Francis’ style mixes elements of country, heartland rock, indie, the blues and Americana into one cool package, truly setting these tunes on fire with his passion.
By Jane Howkins
First up is No Small Bones, which is also my favourite track of the three on offer here. The guitar work is really nice here – it’s not hugely technical, but there’s a real sense of emotion underpinning Francis’ bluesy guitar licks, getting right under your skin. The slide guitar is a nice touch too, although the instrumentation never takes away from the impassioned lead vocals that Francis provides.
Rowboat Me Home is a little, starting instead with a pretty, fingerpicked acoustic guitar motif. It’s a much more stripped-down track than No Small Bones, but it really works, as Francis sings along nicely to the music. More instrumentation is slowly added to the piece as it progresses, although the focus remains on the vocals and acoustic guitar (although the strings and slide guitar are still gorgeous to behold).
The final track on Francis Fell is Walls, which sounds a little like a culmination of the previous two tracks. Both electric and acoustic guitars play across each other, as Francis croons over the top with emotion, drawing you straight into his world. One of the stand-out features of this song is the way the backing vocals are used, sounding like a beautiful choir at times, making this one song you won’t forget in a hurry!
Francis Fell has produced an absolute blinder of an EP here, showing some fantastic songwriting skills. Keep your ear peeled for more from the singer-songwriter shortly!
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