Jacob
Hungsberg – My Future Win (Independent)
An early infatuation with The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul”
album led 16 year old Jacob Hungsberg to begin writing and recording his own songs.
His chosen genre back then was a hybrid of folk-rock and indie, and today he’s
still ploughing much the same furrow. Though, having lived with “My Future Win”
for a week or so, it’s Hungsberg’s keen pop ear that impresses the most. The
five songs on his new EP burrow deep in the subconscious, and that’s primarily
down to his rhythmic melodies and the hooks he hangs from them.
Everything here was written, recorded, produced and mixed by Hungsberg, and he’s
done a remarkably good editing job, too. It’s an underrated skill, but when
you’re a one-man recording operation, it’s essential to be able to distinguish
the wheat from the chaff. There’s no weakness or excess on “My Future
Win”, nothing to break the flow and
absolutely no filler.
Opening
cut “Plan Your Attack” bounces out of the trap, its
addictive pop groove, powered by keyboards and string effects, is utterly
compulsive. Better still is “Never
Have It Again”; its
toothsome arrangement underpins ambitious instrumentation and a song that
deserves much attention. Of the five tracks, my favourite is probably “Pilots in Flight”. A ringing guitar line brings to
mind Ezra Koenig’s looping six-string lead in Vampire Weekend, but it’s nothing
overt or derivative, and Hungsberg nails it with a hazy vocal.
My only
real complaint is a couple of the songs could have been longer, though the old
adage about leaving them wanting more is always worthy of consideration.
Simon M.
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