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Cardiff songwriter Gene Madoc returns with his second album in a year, \u2018The Fragmenting of a 21st Century Manchild\u2019, 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\u2019t mistake for anyone else\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first track on the album, \u2018This Might Be the Start \u2019, is a ballad-esque introduction that sets the tone, before \u2018Handout\u2019 follows with chord progressions and an overall sound reminiscent of The Beatles. That isn\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I Don\u2019t Learn\u2019 is more atmospheric and downbeat, a first hint at where the record is heading. \u2018Unworthy\u2019 is one of its most striking moments, built on religious imagery that is quietly clever: \u201che wants to find Jesus, only finds the remote\u201d. It\u2019s a neat image of someone searching for something transcendent and landing on a screen, and it ties into the album\u2019s concerns with digital culture. The chorus, \u201cthere will be no crucifixion\u201d, denies its subject any martyrdom, and a good guitar solo gives the song extra bite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
From here the album shifts into a darker place. \u2018Fog of Wonder\u2019 is slower and moodier, and \u2018No Bombs in My Sky\u2019 holds that minor key whilst turning outward, asking whether being sheltered from war is a blessing or guilt. \u2018Cynic\u2019s Regret\u2019 is the album\u2019s most experimental moment: a short, completely instrumental, spooky interlude that lets the mood settle before the finale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What makes the album distinctive is less the guitars than the pairing of Madoc\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All in all, \u2018The Fragmenting of a 21st Century Manchild\u2019 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Words by Mia Samson\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cardiff songwriter Gene Madoc returns with his second album in a year, \u2018The Fragmenting of a 21st Century Manchild\u2019, out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":38434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,9],"tags":[797],"class_list":["post-38426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-music","tag-album-review"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n