Friday 24 May 2019

Album Review: Agnus by Western Settings


Ahead of a massive European tour which includes performances at both legs of Booze Cruise Festival, in Bristol and Hamburg, San Diego's Western Settings have released a brand new three track EP. Titled Agnus, it is Western Settings’ first release on A-F Records – a label that has recently been a conveyor belt for releasing great material. Having been a fan of the past two Western Settings releases, Yes It Is and Old Pain, and really looking forward to seeing them live again, I was very keen to check out Agnus.


The first of the three tracks is That's Pretty Good. What we have here is a mid-tempo, melodic, gruff pop punk track. Lead vocalist Ricky Schmidt's voice is the real star of the show here, really captivating the listener. As soon as they kicked in, I found myself with a huge urge to join him in singing the track. Musically the song is also fantastic. The powerful drumbeat accompanied by some expertly layered guitars give the song a lot of umph. I loved the switch in melody that occurs halfway through the track. The song cuts out completely and the band slowly build the song back up towards a big sing-along finale.

Up next is the song Duckets Is Tight. This track has a real feeling of Gainesville legends Hot Water Music to it. From the beginning it filled me with this energy that had me eager to see where the song goes. The track does this wonderful things of feeling big but also has so many subtle, intricate layers to it that you probably wouldn't hear on your first listen.

Western Settings slow things down on the EP's final song, the title track Agnus. This is an acoustic track that is equally haunting and brilliant. The song begins with one long keyboard note before the acoustic guitar comes in. When the vocals hit, my throat got a bit lumpy. It was a simple but oh so effective introduction. The guitar remains soft throughout, allowing Schmidt's voice to do most of the heavy lifting with some occasional louder chords on the guitar adding some impact. This song has me wanting to see Schmidt play some solo acoustic songs at some point as well. A fantastic way to end the EP.

If you hadn't heard of Western Settings before then Agnus will serve as a great introduction to the band. If you were already a fan of Western Settings then the EP is a great taster for their next full length, whenever that might happen. Either way, we have three great songs here from a fantastic band.

Stream and download Agnus here: https://westernsettings.bandcamp.com/album/agnus

Like Western Settings here: https://www.facebook.com/westernsettings/

This review was written by Colin Clark.

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