Ethan P. Flynn - Abandon All Hope Review
Ethan P. Flynn's haunting debut, Abandon all hope, is a brilliant glimpse into a wayward storyteller's solitude.
It wasn't too long before things started happening for London-based music maverick Ethan P. Flynn. He was just getting stuck in to his electronic music degree with London's Guidhall as his flavour of choice, before the singer-songwriter became a nuance of something new...
With him landing record deals and working alongside the likes of David Byrne at just 19, it only seemed a matter of time before he careened off down his own lane, itching at the prospect at what he can achieve on his lonesome. Flynn soon became found himself alone which to some, may be a cruel joke to play. But to Flynn, it was an unfortunate necessity. Combatting the ark of cautionary loneliness as a soloist, he developed a work ethic spewing out songs on the daily.
Now, we enter 2023 with Abandon All Hope and you can't help but wonder if his Guidhall dropout, his first EP taster, his collaborative side work - was all leading to this very moment.
Reminiscent of an outwardly gloomier version to Black Country, New Road, Flynn's unique display of combing 'traditional' songwriting with charismatic post-punk soundscapes has already pricked the ears of the giants in the game, as Flynn's unconventionalities marks him as a vivid storyteller very much in his own right.
It's not said often enough that you can share and feel exactly what the artist is trying to convey in his work. It's possibly not said enough because it's quite a hard task to accomplish. But you can see that this living vicariously through an artist is almost certainly doable via the extraordinary palette of Flynn's Abandon All Hope.
His debut, heavily orchestrated and very contemplative in design, hits up to 44 minutes over 8 songs. The 8 songs in question weave and dart about effortlessly between one another, as we're tugged into another one of Ethan's colourful meanders.
Amongst the eight songs on display here, the 16-minute Crude Oil certainly takes the cake as it incorporates a flurry of sounds from indie-country twang to a melancholic string-piano combo. It's a vivid etching of every music motif that makes up the very best of film score stingers and aching regret, as it teeters on the playful with Pixar. Flynn remarks in verse seven (yes, verse seven), "By the time the family came / The outlaw was in tears," as he makes reference to the title track of Abandon All Hope - an American highwayman forced to continuously rob his family in purgatory. The lead track comes equipped with janky acoustics and feisty bones as Flynn gets heavy: "Digging for gold, running out of rope / Now you feel like a poltergeist / Tonight." We can't keep thinking on it for too long though, as Clutching Your Pearls pipes up, it's ulterior motive to embrace the good times and letting your arms unfold from their sceptical stance, as the unique mandola tuning wades us into shore. We're seen more suggestive songwriting of Randy Newman's playfulness with Leaving The Boys Behind as Flynn's husk coils us around like a warm embrace.
Bad Weather is another encouraging message providing sustenance to Ethan's own lonely journey to music prowess as he reminds us to not let the "bad weather outlive you" in a world seemingly full of tornadoes eager to rip up any home comforts you may have. The album ends in an evident explosion of outrage as Demolition takes centre stage. Flynn wanes and wails out I'm not your fat controller anymore before letting out a scream, as some of his most progressive lyrics are on display: "Can I get a round of applause all the way to the moon / For an open wound in a children's cartoon / You rose from the floor, it's quarter past four / You've got your head stuck in the door."