Gregor McEwan - Spring Forward EP (RD: 17/04/20)

Press Shot

a press release by Linus Volkmann

What are you gonna do? There are always going to be setbacks on your way to spring. Rain, exasperation, darkness.... ‘n shit. Or it’s getting cold again, really cold if you’re unlucky. But every new day is a promise. A promise that everything is going to be alright, that everything will come back. And meanwhile, Gregor McEwan’s new EP is playing.

There are four new tracks, one EP. Two years have passed since his last album “From A To Beginning”. And again, you have to be careful not to confuse him with that actor. Ewan McGregor and Gregor McEwan both share this thought of “in a galaxy far, far away.” To all non-nerds: What are you doing with your time anyways? - and that quote is - of course - from Star Wars! On his new EP Hagen Siems, the hairy dreamer behind this project, is deliberately picking up where he left off, continuing the space theme on his last album. “₲ΛLΛX¥“ is the name of the song. A pumping bass is dancing around an energetic drum groove leading the way. But all that fires away then is characteristic of this musical phenomenon that is Gregor McEwan. Who else can take a song based on a lil lick - not even three minutes long - and emotionally charge it up like this?! These associations flickering on and off again and again, from Edwyn Collins to Suede to J Mascis - heaven knows what else! - couldn’t be more diverse, you hear an Omnichord, an Indian tanpura, a robot effect on the vocals.

Still this music is not a thrift shop - everything comes together perfectly. You are just taken by the emotional depths of these songs. They have the force to make you weep even if played on a beat-up guitar sitting around a campfire. But the fact that McEwan enhances them with this kind of varied sound aesthetic proves that this Berliner-by-choice is one of a kind.

The title track “Fwd: Spring“ tells of the time of the year when the clocks are set to daylight saving time. We lose an hour but are rewarded with the prospect of many days whose darkness will fall later. “Forward spring, don’t fall back!” The gift of time, marching drums and again this tightrope between euphoria and melancholy. It’s about getting back up on the horse, about ephemerality and the beauty of the moment, all rolled into one.

But there are two more songs: “I Got U” and “A 000000 Times” - in the first IndieRock stomper you can hear visual artist Kati von Schwerin (admittedly, she’s also a great musician). It’s about love and even a little bit about the rivalry between the two German football clubs Schalke and Dortmund. Oh wow! I swear it! On “A 000000 Times” more is going on here in a single song than on the entire latest Liam Gallagher album. How can this be possible?!

“Spring Forward” is an obscenely expertly performed EP, an essence. Maybe Gregor McEwan has never before presented his art with this kind of focus. These four songs are a sensation! All this adrenaline, this joy, this melancholy inundating the listener. This is what this kind of music should be about - and nothing else. Every time I listen to it I am exhausted. Thank you for that!