Review Summary: Crywank releases a strong contender for saddest album of the year
James Clayton has one and only one goal when writing music; and that's to make you
feel. That feeling is usually sadness, and he is damn good at it. He doesn't throw any fancy tricks at you either. It's just his acoustic guitar and his wailing vocals overtop. Honestly, that's all he really needs, because it does the trick with the utmost perfection. The entire 20 minute album is nigh impossible to trudge through without finding something to relate to in its contents. The lyrics aren't even that poetic either. They're just shockingly honest and straightforward.
"I don't want to sell my soul, only because it doesn't feel like I've got one."
"I don't have a right to say I'm sad, I don't know what sadness is."
Lines like this absolutely riddle the record as it plays through, and the emotion is palpable in his voice. There are, however, occasional moments where the lyrics are so absolutely sappy or ridiculous that they border on laughable. One such line in "Nostril Tampon" (which is quite the ridiculous song name I might add) leaps readily to mind:
"Oh mom, I know you only wanted boys. Can I feel it through my ballsack? I can feel it in my nose."
One can only wonder what exactly it is James is trying to express here but even then it's hard not to sympathize with him while he continuously wails about how sad he is. The album itself is short, which is most likely a benefit to the listen. Any longer and it would probably begin to overstay its welcome, as everything does start to feel slightly samey towards the end. And let's be honest, how long do you want to sit and listen to some depressed guy wail over an acoustic guitar? The answer is probably not very long.
His guitar playing itself is nothing special, but effective enough that it fits the record well. His goal isn't to technically astound the listener, so the guitar fits nicely in the background to his vocals. However, a lot of the chords do sound quite similar from song to song, but he changes it up just enough so that it doesn't sound monotonous.
All in all, little known singer-songwriter Crywank has released an astoundingly honest and heartfelt record. While it is short, it does more than enough in that given time to do bring out those emotions you've always felt deep down inside, but have never let out.
