(Release Date — 27/10/2023)
Introducing William Cawley, a singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, drummer, and producer currently residing in Durham. Influences such as Todd Rundgrem, Mac DeMarco and Kevin Parker gave William the inspiration to do everything in-house. Cawley states that he “started producing in late 2015 after university”.
Here to promote his new upcoming self-recorded EP ‘Domestic Bliss’, the full release of this is Friday 27th October. Once you’ve heard his two already released singles, you’ll be itching for the 27th to come around.
At the age of seventeen, Cawley wrote what he calls his “first proper song”, ‘Melody Hit Maker’, which is the opening track on his debut album ‘Latenight Brainfreeze’, which is described as a “crowd favourite”.
William is a man of many influences, with his main genres being “power pop and punk rock”. Both tracks ‘Sunday Boyfriend’ and ‘Whitey Weekend’ are songs that have melodies that you will be singing back to yourself after the first time of listening. In terms of specific artists, Cawley says that “The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Green Day, The Strokes and Weezer are huge inspirations behind my songwriting decisions and overall sound”.
Whitey Weekend
Without further ado, I present you with the latest single released by William, ‘Whitey Weekend’. With a dirty rock garage sound, I absolutely love this track! Both guitar and vocals reminiscent of the Strokes’ debut album ‘Is This It’. Picking up on the fast-paced rhythm and catchy guitar riffs, it has a likeness to their hit ‘Hard to Explain’ — which was voted the Strokes greatest song by NME.com users. Any strokes fans out there should immediately turn their attention to this single. From the first verse, I gather that the writer is revealing his feelings from the weekend and there are talks about trying to get in contact with a girl that he has met. In the pre-chorus, we gather he is experiencing the disappointment of feeling lost in the look for love, with one of my favourite lines in this song “went in for the kill, now I’m on my bill”. It’s after this line of the section where I feel the song is going to take us somewhere, when the guitar stops playing and it’s just the drums and bass playing alongside the vocals, I’m waiting for the guitar to commence again. After a wondrous drum fill, the guitar proceeds with a chorus that doesn’t disappoint. Following from the chorus, a Libertines style instrumental plays, with a fascinating speaking facet and bass. It reminds me of the Oasis track, ‘I’m Outta Time’ where an audio clip of John Lennon speaking is added.
In the middle of the track, the music fades out and incomes a bass solo. Credit to William for this feature in the song, it creates a cliffhanging affect where we are waiting for the chorus to play out again and it makes such an amazing listen. The guitar strokes one beat per bar, and then the bass plays a countdown. A rocky riff brings us back to the chorus. In the final chorus, the first verse is overlayed and can be subtly heard as I feel the song ending. My favourite line from this song is “She had a boyfriend, how was I to know? Oh well I guess, yeah, this is how we grow”.
Sunday Boyfriend
Opening with a neat guitar riff inspired by the Beach Boys, we are then shot with another fast-paced rhythmic sound with a quick drum beat and a punchy chord progression. Beatle like backing vocals can be made out in this track. Another memorable chorus from Cawley, with a catchy melody. I ideate that the drums play a crucial piece in this segment, whilst still progressing the quick tempo, the hi-hat adds an interesting sound and gives it another layer to the instrumentation. A Sunday boyfriend refers to being there to comfort someone on the days they need it most and when they feel the most lonely and blue i.e., a Sunday, but allowing them the space to be free other times. I think this is an engrossing idea that William has picked up on. He has crafted and produced a well written song about it. Inspired by the Vaccines with their “fast paced style”, Cawley wrote the chord progression first, then followed with the lyrics and melody. My favourite line from this song is “We’ll watch Formula 1 or whatever you want, your Sunday boyfriend”.
The final single ‘One More Before Tea Time’, is set to be released on Friday 13th October 2023.
William is currently looking to form a backing band so he can have the opportunity to gig his new EP to promote it further. He is looking for another guitarist, bassist and a drummer, who can provide backing vocals and harmonies to create the “sonic experience”. Having read this review and/or have listened to his music, and this sounds like something you want to be a part of, you shouldn’t hesitate to get in contact with him to “show everyone some Domestic Bliss”. You can contact William via email: williamcawley@sky.com or Instagram: @williamcawley69.
You can check out his music here via Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/artist/1KGAiXeLAgZmrIzpxBDqga?si=lQNAvNryTFaqgizTTS7OOA
You can check out his music here via Apple Music –
https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/william-cawley/1442191171
You can check out his YouTube channel here, where he films and edits all his own videos-
