Adam Weddโs new EP MERCHANT MAN flips through the pages of a travel-stained diary full of late-night thoughts, open-road musings, and intimate stories, all set to an alt-rock soundtrack. From the get-go, with the high-octane opener โPEDAL to the METAL โ apex version,โ Wedd steers the listener into his world with chugging guitars and catchy โOooโ harmonies. Itโs all wide skies, messy love, and youthful defiance, sung in his breathy, husky voice, making our hearts move and touch us with delicacy.
Meanwhile, โShipwrecksโ takes things down a notch, floating in on soft piano as he sings with full passion and soul, softly and slowly. The slow build with delicate percussion and writhing violin hits a tender nerve. The way his voice trails in his husky grain is so swoonโworthy and makes you melt like butter. He sings, โYou go your way, Iโll go mine/ Fading, falling to the ether.โ
And just when youโre getting cozy in that melancholy space, โMadmanโ arrives with a different emotional punch. The beat hits harder, the flow gets sharper, and thereโs a low-key swagger to it that totally works with the passion. Wedd sings passionately with compassion for the ex, completely aware of everyoneโs feelings and complications while knowing what he wants.ย Blacksmith slides in seamlessly, raps effortlessly, and seamlessly moves from line to line.
On top of that, โBegin Againโ closes out the set with a redemptive punch. The gravel in Weddโs voice meets its match in his falsetto, and suddenly youโre misty-eyed, feeling what heโs feeling. He sings, โWhen I lose my way, can we try again someday?โ
MERCHANT MAN might be Weddโs debut, but it already sounds like someone whoโs lived a few lifetimes on the road. Keep your eyes on him, heโs just getting started. As for me, I have already followed him.
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Review by: Naomi Joan