WOL | LIVE2021

LIVE2021 by WOL | Editorial

The day before everything shut down, I was buying my car at a car lot. I spent about what felt like 4 hours looking for the vehicle, and when I finally found it, it cost around $18 thousand.

Look up a 2018 Toyota Camery price range now; it's likely around 3x that amount, depending on where you live in America.

Times have certainly changed since the pandemic, but the one thing that indeed hasn't is the current mental health crisis.

There's still the stigma; homelessness is still a big concern, suicide is still one of the leading causes of death, etc. IT'S RIDICULOUS!

So what are we doing about it? That's something I am growingly impressed with each week I work in the field. So we are doing something, a little, but it's something.

Remember that I said that.

Speak up if you need to.

Be Will Dunn. Do what he did in this album; learn more by reading on.

WOL | About

London-based Will Dunn is the mastermind behind the singer-songwriter WOL, who mixes art rock with dream pop elements. Will has been writing music since his early teens but has been releasing under WOL since 2019.

When first writing music in the early stages, he was mainly inspired by Radiohead. Then further down the line Joni Mitchell, Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, and all the post-punk stuff of the 80s inspired his music. He is still figuring out his influences at this time.

"I'd say a lot of the lyrics I write are pretty personal takes, but often wrapped up in metaphors and blurred meanings. I've had a lot of experiences with anxiety and depression over my life, so my lyrics often touch on themes of mental health, and coming to terms with those issues. But I also take a lot of inspiration from simple human stories; ideally, I want to write stuff that people can relate to, and maybe even gain something for themselves from it." -Loop Solitaire interview with WOL.

WOL | Achievements

Although he's been making music for a long time, he is still in his early days. Nevertheless, his music has been played on BBC Introducing and a few shows on top of that. Now based in London, he plans to be more active with his new band and the WOL solo project.

WOL released his full-length LIVE2021 album on Friday, with videos for each track. It comprises three original songs and a cover of Portishead's "The Rip." WOL says this is one of his more vulnerable releases because the songs are very personal to him, and in truth, he was also quite nervous about putting them out.

"I think pretty much everyone had their hellish moments during Covid - my version of that was heading back to my family home during the lockdown, falling into a hole, getting stuck there, and wondering if I'd ever climb out. Eventually, I did!" -WOL.

WOL | Background

As previously mentioned, WOL is Will Dunn's solo project, but he also is a band. When he was younger, he also was an actor. But his acting days are long behind him, and he is now focused on music.

LIVE2021 | Instrumental Review

The album instrumentally feels like soft rock, definitely lounge music. I love this part of the album, low key and simple. It reminds me of the only thing I missed during the pandemic, live lounge music that can be played in my room.

The songs effortlessly flow well; after each piece ends, another start where it left off. I admit I am a sucker for a good transition, and this album certainly delivers that. A good shift pulls the listener in more, allowing each song to flow into one other perfectly.

I would love to hear what you think about the instrumental part of the album. So please leave a like and comment below with your thoughts on this part of the album.

LIVE2021 | Vocal Review

The album is indeed vulnerable as far as the lyrical part of the album. It echoes all the emotions people faced during the pandemic, and in this way, it is very relatable. I enjoyed the Friend That Never Was original live version, but the other songs have room for improvement. The Portishead cover of The Rip was pretty good, but I also see room for improvement.

I want to hear more confidence in Will's voice during a live performance. The more confident he is in his voice, the better his performance will be. I would love to hear what you think. Please leave a like and comment below with your thoughts on the vocal part of the album.

LIVE2021 | Album Review

I applaud the vulnerability in the album and want WOL to feel like his music is a safe space for this vulnerability. I encourage him to continue down this path and fully support him.

Soft rock is a great start for his live music sound, and I encourage him to continue down this path. Everything about this album is excellent, even though I see room for improvement.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the album, so please leave a like and comment with your thoughts. I will also post about his future releases, so please make sure you subscribe to this page.

Thank You Notes

Thank you to Will Dunn for requesting the review and providing me with the material to write the review, and I am certainly looking forward to working with him further. He's a great upcoming London musician, and I am looking forward to following his musical journey.

If you enjoyed what you heard, then make sure you like and follow the links below. If you would like to read more, please feel free to scroll around the website, and if you want to stay updated with future articles, please subscribe to the website as well.

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Conclusion

I hope you have an excellent rest of the day, and please remember to be respectful to others. We don't need more hate in this world, so please be kind to everyone you meet.

I appreciate the support by reading this article and others on the site, and I am very intrigued to hear what you think, so please leave a like and comment with your thoughts below.