An Exception by I Forget Myself: Review

by admin January 9, 2026

January 9, 2026

“An Exception” finds I Forget Myself stepping into a sharper, more distilled version of his alternative rock universe. Now several albums deep and based in Hong Kong after growing up in South Africa, he’s an independent lifer: singer, writer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist in one. With over a million Spotify streams and eight full-length records behind him, the new EP An Exception feels less like a reinvention and more like a hard-won evolution. The veteran artist is tightening the screws on sound, emotion, and intent. On top of that, Longtime collaborator Kyle Reece Williams is back on drums, while Clint Watts at Watts Productions handles mixing and mastering, giving the release a punchy, international sheen without sanding off its edges.

The opener “The Climb” sets the tone right away. The song has churning gritty guitars and thumping beats and deep bass. The singer with his breathy voice sings sultrily and mysteriously. The guitars start grinding grittily, blazing and chasing as his voice floats over. It feels restless and addictive, like pacing a city street at 3 a.m., half lost in thought, half buzzing with unresolved questions. There’s tension in every bar, but also a strange seduction — the sense that struggle and desire are tangled up together.

Later, “I Dream Out An Exception” pushes further into that emotional grey zone. The song has pounding beats and grinding gritty fuzzy guitars. The singer sings emotionally but eccentrically in his high breathy voice. The performance sounds like it’s on the verge of coming apart but never quite does, riding that sweet spot between vulnerability and control. Lyrically and sonically, it leans into the idea that we’re all hoping to be the one thing that breaks the rule — the exception, not the norm.

Taken as a whole, An Exception is lean, moody, and ambitious, the work of an artist still pushing his own boundaries.