Arthur Walwin – For One More Night

Hailing from the South East of London; Arthur Walwin has been building a name for himself with his You Tube covers and now, original material. The new release sees Arthur taking on the role of both artist and producer – giving him the freedom to incorporate many of his eclectic influences into his music. The songs are reminiscent of early Mayday Parade and some of the slower songs by artists like You Me At Six and Paramore. The EP is a departure from his band (Paige), however there are still shades of piano-lead American Pop/Rock in his songs.

The majority of ‘For One More Night’ was recorded at Arthur’s home studio in Essex, however the track ‘All For You’ started in one of the drum rooms at his Uni (The Academy of Contemporary Music) and ended up at Matt o’Grady’s studio in Woking (You Me At Six, Deaf Havana.)

The songs on the EP were written autobiographically about the relationships in Arthur’s life, and read like a narrative or diary. The lyrics were often posted on his Tumblr way before the songs they would eventually belong to took proper form. Musically, the songs are softer and more delicate than anything he’s done in the past – in order to accompany the deeply personal lyrical content.

Track Listing

1. Blame It On The Weather
2. All For You
3. So Much For An Early Night
4. Older Posts
5. So Nice To Meet You

Reviews

TopHatMagazine.com

Straight away, this Minneapolis five-piece sound like a crowd pleasing band, but with their rather formulaic music style, they will be just one of many. The first two tracks “Declaration” and “Runaway” feel like songs I’ve heard many times before, simply because of their following of the pop-punk standard form, but doing so badly.

However, there is some slight redemption in track 3, “Back Pedal”, purely because it sounds like better pop-punk bands, like blink-182 and YouMeAtSix. And then, just as they start to get better, they sink back into their previous form. With cheesy chorus voices and obvious clapping points which effectively cry INSERT CROWD PARTICIPATION HERE “Everything You Do” is another dreary, dragging song. I see this however, being popular with a wider audience, and possibly covered on Glee. God help us all when this day comes, because they’ll have a hard time censoring the constant cries of ‘I’m calling bullshit’.

Following that, we get a slight feeling of déjà vu, as “Don’t Look Down” sounds like “Declaration” with different lyrics. Thankfully, “When This Is Over” saves us from a complete loop in the album, with an interesting beat and decent acoustic start. This is the first track where I can hear the band challenging themselves, especially in the vocals, and I like it. Stay on this type of thing, and they might have something.
*sigh* Sadly, it appears someone has already told them this, so they wrote the next tracks “Don’t Say You Love Me” and “Reintroduce Myself” on the exact same chord sequence. And the thing is, if they were a bit further apart on the album, I wouldn’t mind so much. But right next to each other? No. I protest. I’m calling bullshit.

“Running in the Wrong Direction” sounds like One Direction trying to play rock, and “Wake Up” is just another trawl through “Pop-punk for Dummies”. They do little to restore my faith in the band. They’re dreary, and I feel like I was dragged along by that album unwillingly. Despite a few interesting moments, overall it was dull and tedious. Work on it.

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