Apart from the peak of the early 1970s, has there been a better time to be a singer-songwriter? With a laptop and some basic recording equipment, any promising singer-songwriter can now bear their soul at a moments notice over the internet. Working within a medium that values the spark of inspiration, what could be more rewarding than writing a song and having it available to your fans that very evening?
However, unlike the 1970s where singer-songwriters were forced to sharpen their skills in arduous open mic nights, the internet now permits them to reach an audience without being properly filtered or more unfortunately, before they’re really ready.
PINK PILLS is the pseudonym of Scottish singer-songwriter Ryan J Gallagher. Taking advantage of the freedom bestowed upon this new breed of songwriter, he has written, produced and recorded every single note of this new EP himself. And believe me with a sound-scape ranging from accomplished acoustic guitar to complex programmed beats this is not to be ignored.
Still, Pink Pills appears to have fallen into the trap which threatens many internet based artists. This is his third EP, and less than twelve months on from his debut release he feels he has already perfected his art. Rather than improve upon his skills, he claims to have attempted to expand his song-writing and intentionally “disregarded verse-chorus conventions”. This inquisitive outlook also finds him experimenting with combinations of electronic and acoustic instruments, along with digital and analogue recording techniques. It’s probably a natural evolution after a year spent in your bedroom, it’s just that the raw materials on offer here still haven’t reached their full potential.
As a result the first half of SHACKLED VISIONS which contains the more experimental material feels like a work in progress. Part of this problem maybe that Gallagher’s voice lacks the necessary warmth to invite you into his world. It’s charming in a heavily accented and fragile sort of way, but against the dense industrial Depeche Mode style back drop of Funeral Song it just sounds thin.
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The second half of the EP takes a more stripped down approach and is all the better for it. Act 2 Scene 10 starts off like Out Of Time by Blur if it was recorded in Edinburgh rather than Morocco and this is no bad thing. It’s just frustrating that Pink Pills can’t resist punctuating his unsettling delivery of “sirens wail as a mother screams” with a sound effect of a real siren. By the time his next line is further emphasised by the noise of gun shots you realise any hope of creating mystery or quiet magnetism has long gone.
Closer Fade To Black is the simplest and most affecting moment on Shackled Visions. It contains a beautiful melody that continually rises before being battered to the ground in the style that Eels perfected on Electro Shock Blues. If it had been recorded after a few months of being road tested at gigs it would be truly moving, however there is just too much uncertainty in the vocal performance and arrangement to allow the song to captivate you. Despite this, the song is enough proof that a very decent songwriter is lurking within Pink Pills, it’s just a shame he couldn’t wait a few more months before revealing his work online.
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