We might be seeing the last political gasps of a corrupt and lying politician in London, but it's Vienna that Danish singer Harry Eucrow has in his sights. I'm not entirely sure why, in fact I don't know that much about the Copenhagen songwriter, but his new EP is an impressive release, particularly for opening track 'Viennese Waltz', that I've listened to on repeat in recent weeks.
He describes himself as a 'musician, poet and storyteller', which immediately appealed to me, and his style of songwriting is very much in the style of Southern Gothic, Folk and Americana, quoting Tom Waits, Dave van Ronk and Leonard Cohen all as influences, which I certainly see. I can't think of many Nordic comparisons, but some of you may remember me writing about Danish / Iranian musician Murky Munroe and his former band Black Dog Howl, and those guys are probably cut from the same cloth, or at least drink the same whisky.
So that opening track 'Viennese Waltz' certainly caught my attention, atmospheric, slightly dark, but with a quite lovely melody and subtle strings adding a delicacy that actually compliments the soft deep vocals. But it's backed up by tracks such as 'Headed West', opening with acoustic guitar and the lyrics really taking centre stage: "you gave me so little, and I gave up so much, we're all headed west in the end.... but our times almost up". whilst my favourite out of the rest of the songs is definitely 'Suits & Dresses' - another track supported by strings.
It's an interesting release, full of character, with those gravelly vocals and relatively stripped back instrumentals ensuring the lyrics cut through clearly, which also allows those stories to be told. It's true that 'Viennese Waltz' is definitely a stand out song and melodically there's a 'simplicity' (in a perfectly nice way) to some of the songs, but it's really successful debut and hopefully we'll get to hear more from him over the next couple of years.
Find him on Facebook.