Harrison Rimmer – One Man, Many Instruments, *TOUR DATES* and The Debut ‘C’ EP.

Harrison Rimmer – York, England, United Kingdom.

Twenty three year old Harrison Rimmer is a musician, he grew up in Fleetwood in Lancashire and is now based in York. Why am I telling this this? Well, that is because I received a review request from a very talented musician, and his name was Harrison Rimmer.

July 2011 was the beginning of his musical endeavours, from then seeing Harrison travel the UK, gain airplay on BBC Introducing York & North Yorkshire, record two singles (including b-sides), as well as two EPs. The new EP, entitled C , has just landed and information for acquiring it will be posted at the end of the article.

As a singer-songwriter, much of Harrison’s work is acoustic based when played live, however, on recording a more “plugged in” approach is taken, with all music written and every instrument played by the lone gunman himself.

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‘At this point I had been sitting on a load of material that had been left over from writing my other releases and I thought, I would just record them and see how they feel, but then I started to write a whole batch of new songs and in the January and I thought, right I’m going to have to lay these down other wise I never will.’

A blast of synths and upbeat guitar-work are your welcome to ‘The Wayside’. This particular wayside sadly not being one of an impending lift to something new or happier surroundings, rather a place to sit and reminisce about lost plans. The contrast between lyrical content’s mood and the upbeat nature of the music works perfectly to convey the meaning of the song; a tried and tested method, but a good one.

‘Roots’ was the first track I heard from this EP and my opinion of it hasn’t changed. Faster, harder and clearly taking note of Nirvana‘s Punk-Rock influences, it is what it is – a blast of defiant sound.

‘Before We Had To Go’ is easily a contender for the best track on the release. Lyrically, once again, it’s thoughtful and very real, while musically it carries a more semi-acoustic structure and acts as the bridge you’d take to walk back to where the first tracks are playing. It was the plugged in guitars and their bittersweet, almost anthemic melodies however that closed the deal for me, what will do it for you?

‘Ripped Up Magazine’ showcases more of the Harrison’s emotionally cracking and strained vocal style paired with a soft Indie Rock foundation. This would normally be the point in the song and indeed release where I’d commend the rest of the band for doing such a great job as well, but as Harrison has filled-in each role himself, just the one compliment will have to suffice.

‘I hope you’ll see me and run – away, cos’ I’m a fraud, a liar and a ripped up magazine‘

The final number was the one I was waiting for.

The plugged in and “full band” aesthetic of the EP is nothing short of impressive from a solo artist, but you still need that cliche acoustic number to tie things off. Of course, there is nothing cliche about Harrison Rimmer’s acoustic compositions at all, because it isn’t on the level of that moron in ripped jeans, with his songs of fabricated conviction, wooing high-school girls under the tree in the playground.

No where near.

Harrison is also embarking on a tour to support the EP, if you’re nearby, catch him at the following dates.

To put it bluntly, this is a very good release and an example of the “singer-songwriter” formula thinking way outside of the box and standing on it’s own two feet and walking it’s own path.

Find it and all the information you could possibly want on the project linked below:

• Harrison Rimmer related happenings: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
• For streaming, head to SoundCloud and for videos his Youtube Channel.
• ‘C’ can be found on Spotify, iTunes and bandcamp, with hardcopy CDs and t-shirts also available at gigs so keep an eye out for those.
• Harrison Rimmer’s back catalogue is also available on bandcamp.

#StayFresh