Donnie Willow announced themselves with their debut EP ‘Inhale. Exhale.’ in 2016, seven tracks that dressed alt-rock in interesting time signatures, tempo changes and excitement to produce an intriguing and at times chaotic record, but always with scintillating melody at its core. Follow-up EP ‘Exhibition’ manages to make the same impact in just four tracks, getting straight to the point with punchy alt-rock that certainly proves that this Glaswegian trio know how to write damn good songs.
What makes Donnie Willow so intriguing is that despite being accessible and catchy, there’s always some latent menace bubbling away under the surface; the band’s sound is liable to explode at any moment and this tension makes for an exciting experience where you never know what’s going to happen next. Opener ‘Stuck’ is engulfed in a thick wall of sound that houses this latent aggression well, suppressing it beneath a catchy melody and uncomplicated structure.
The menace starts to bleed through on ‘Blessed Company’, which unleashes singer Arthur Piddington’s shouted vocals and more angular, math-rock style riffs to add aggression and bite to the track. ‘Exhibition’ is on a constant knife-edge balance between restraint and letting go and when ‘Blessed Company’ allows the band to be temporarily unhinged, it shows off an exciting, chaotic side of their personality. It’s a fantastic effect that benefits from its sparing use across the EP, making sure that when it does happen, it carries maximum impact.
‘Toys’ shifts the mood with a huge riff that you’ll want to dust off your air guitar for and with Piddington’s vocal arrangement emphasising the pattern of the guitars, it offers one of the catchiest moments of the record. ‘Toys’ is helped by the perfect mix of guitars, drums and vocals which allows each part to have equal prominence and gives a chunky sound that provides an ideal match for the attitude of the record. Final track ‘I Still Remember’ brings the EP full circle with a more straight-forward structure that focuses on melody, allowing us to enjoy the softer but equally impressive elements of Piddington’s vocals.
With ‘Exhibition’ Donnie Willow have proven their class and unrivalled ability to create massive, anthemic songs that are full of interesting musical moments. During any moment, there’s an underlying potential that something exciting is coming round the corner and this tension makes for an addictive and rewarding listen. With the recent signing to Sunbird Records, hopefully the band’s next release will be a substantial, full-length record because this genre needs a band like Donnie Willow to keep driving it forward and we’re certainly ready to hear more.
MARK JOHNSON