Wiri Donna - EP Review: Being Alone
It’s been two years since Wiri Donna’s first and only official release - a double single Manuka Money and Wandering Willies. Those who are in Wellington and have had the opportunity to see Wiri Donna live will be more accustomed to the heavier sound that they bring live. For those remote listeners, confined to streaming services, the progression from the first releases’ gentle indie-folk to the meatier conditions of Being Alone might be surprising.
Track one, the album’s namesake, Being Alone starts nice and gentle, to ease you in. There’s a hint at a drop, which doesn’t amount, and then around halfway through it really goes for it. This becomes somewhat of a trend as the EP progresses, gentle starting songs that progress to crescendo.
No Follow Through is one of the two singles on the EP. It beings with light, happy up tempo rolling drums. The chorus brings a huge shift to that underlying heaviness that keeps peeking through in the EP. There’s a big intrusive guitar solo towards the end.
Dream Of Me is the second single. I remember seeing Wiri Donna play this song in November 2020, I wrote down the lyrics in my phone only to find upon searching, that it was unreleased – until now! I love the bittersweet lyrics, and the themes of growth and moving on. It spoke to me particularly in 2020 when I had a lot of growing and moving on, on my agenda, but it’s still applicable now, I’m sure you’ll all agree.
The finale, Last Call is the ultimate logical conclusion of an EP which largely follows a gentle/to/heavy structure. Slow whooshing symbols on the intro, gentle voice, it feels like going into winter. At almost five and a half minutes this song begins building and just keeps on building. Spoiler alert there is a very epic ending, like a dramatic movie, violins and all. I feel like the heavies just kept getting heavier until we reached this one – the heaviest.
Overall the EP gels together like a cohesive whole. It feels complete, well composed.
Catch Wiri Donna on her 2022 nationwide EP release tour, with her band; Harrison Scholes (Arjuna Oakes, F.A.I.R.Y), James MacEwan (Arjuna Oakes), & Elliott Dawson (DOONS). The tour kicks off in Wellington on June 10th before heading to Hamilton, Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin & Queenstown in July.
About Wiri Donna
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