Paradise Closed is the long-awaited EP from South Wales four piece The People The Poet and aside from a couple of standalone singles, this is the bands first release since 2013’s The Narrator and what we have here are 6 tracks of emotionally charged anthemic rock which showcases this underrated bands considerable songwriting talents.
The first track Happy (Being Miserable) is an upbeat pop/rock style masterpiece, a belting chorus, complete with punchy riff and some cracking lead guitar. However for me, Club 27, is the best song the band has written and recorded – its pretty bloody epic. It’s a multi-faceted mid-tempo number, with an absolute belter of a vocal from Leon, and it actually gives me goosebumps to listen it. The lyrics namechecking lots of sadly passed rock stars is some of the bands best work. Amazing.
Matchday is another upbeat rock song, which gets better with each and every listen, whereas slow burner Same Heart is classic The People The Poet, featuring the patented Leon howl, Tyla’s intricate guitar work and Pete and Lewis’s excellent rhythm section.
The EP finishes up with Needle In A Haystack and When The Fire Goes Out, which are both perfect examples of the outstanding songwriting skills of the band, featuring clever arrangements and those great little sonic touches that the band excel at and I’d recommend listening to the EP at least once through headphones, as that way you can fully appreciate all the nuances of the bands sound. The production job by Todd Campbell has to be mentioned, to get so much complex instrumentation into the sound but it still be crystal clear is a hell of an achievement.
This is a really great EP from a band who definitely deserve more people to hear them, and hopefully are finally on the road to getting some of the credit and success they so rightfully deserve.
9/10
