Dylan Fraser - 2030 Revolution EP

Small town boy finds his way to the big leagues – it’s a tried and tested narrative. And yet, as the first eerily ice cream van-esque notes of Dylan Fraser’s third EP ring out, there’s a sense that those big leagues might not be able to contain the scope of his potential. He could be onto something more.

From the get-go, the eponymous ‘2030 Revolution’ sets the tone for Dylan’s latest – it’s dark, and it’s existential, but it’s got a resounding sense of ‘fuck it, what will be will be’. “You can’t stop what’s come undone,” Dylan sings. It’s a constant recurring idea of the EP – with the world unravelling around us and an unparalleled amount of uncertainty, there’s a relentless sense of hopelessness. We’re powerless to stop it. But, Dylan argues, if it’s out of our control, shouldn’t we just try to appreciate what’s around us as it happens?

Whilst his previous EP lingered on the moodier side of things, some of the lines of thought on ‘2030 Revolution’ are similarly unsettling. But there’s a lightness, and a soul-searching to the EP that seems a new. ‘It Took A Lot To Get To This’ simultaneously reflects positively on one’s own work and drive while also ruminating on how it’s all too easy to become drained by your own determination – it’s more complex than what’s come to before, crunching and biting with simmering anger and overwhelming emotions. Sonically, these themes rest on a distorted, industrialised bed of sound – it feels like the world’s ending, but in an adrenaline rush, life on the edge way. Layers of harmonic vocals and inimitable hooks bring a glance of hope to Dylan’s sound – as though things might be difficult and out of control, but there’s a freedom and a way to find content in that. It’s thought-provoking stuff.