After many years making music in the realms of TV scoring and sound design, Wolfgang Webb return to more traditional songwriting, something which went far from unnoticed when his debut album, The Insomniacs’ Lullaby, and it’s lead single “Before You Sleep (The Pills)” landed a couple of years ago. Now he is back with a new one, The Lost Boy, which again explores challenging themes and complex issues via beautiful and beguiling music.
Musically, we might not quite be in the same place that spawned the gothic music sound, but we are certainly adjacent to it, albeit often with a more lullabyish, dark fairytale vibe running through it. Take the opener, “March,” a drifting and almost delicate piece set to clockwork beats and layers of cinematic sonics.
Similarly, “the ride” feels like a hushed and intimate voice whispering in your ear as pulses and rhythms tumble around you, “roads” wanders into understated neo-classical realms, and “rough road to climb” embraces dystopian blues, its eerie resonance and picked acoustic opposites that become oh so attractive.
There are a few heavier moments, such as “in the end” and its gnashing beats and sinister vibes, and “is it okay to fail’s” fuller and more layered sound, but for the most part, this is a musical exercise in making dark music out of lighter touches, of atmosphere and anticipation.
This is the journey of the titular Lost Boy becoming the “found man,” a fragile heroes quest and coming of age tale and whilst it is wrapped up in mythology and analogy, sonic legend and musical lore, it is something that we can all relate to in some small, or not so small, way.
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