Cardiff songwriter Gene Madoc returns with his second album in a year, ‘The Fragmenting of a 21st Century Manchild’, out November 6th. Recorded live in Wales during a 48-hour session, it is an album true to its title: ten songs that sit with the disorientation of growing up inside an accelerated, always-online culture, held together by a voice you won’t mistake for anyone else’s.
The first track on the album, ‘This Might Be the Start ’, is a ballad-esque introduction that sets the tone, before ‘Handout’ follows with chord progressions and an overall sound reminiscent of The Beatles. That isn’t to say this is a tribute or just another artist sounding like another artist. Madoc has an original sound, and it comes through in his singing and direct, poetic lyricism. The stories are strong.
‘I Don’t Learn’ is more atmospheric and downbeat, a first hint at where the record is heading. ‘Unworthy’ is one of its most striking moments, built on religious imagery that is quietly clever: “he wants to find Jesus, only finds the remote”. It’s a neat image of someone searching for something transcendent and landing on a screen, and it ties into the album’s concerns with digital culture. The chorus, “there will be no crucifixion”, denies its subject any martyrdom, and a good guitar solo gives the song extra bite.
From here the album shifts into a darker place. ‘Fog of Wonder’ is slower and moodier, and ‘No Bombs in My Sky’ holds that minor key whilst turning outward, asking whether being sheltered from war is a blessing or guilt. ‘Cynic’s Regret’ is the album’s most experimental moment: a short, completely instrumental, spooky interlude that lets the mood settle before the finale.
What makes the album distinctive is less the guitars than the pairing of Madoc’s voice with the way the drums sound. Together they give the record a sound that stands apart from much of what is coming out right now.
All in all, ‘The Fragmenting of a 21st Century Manchild’ is a sincere and distinctive record from an upcoming artist with a voice all his own. It turns the confusion of modern life into something reflective, strange and often beautiful.
Words by Mia Samson
