The Weekend Extender

If you've ever spent time staring at your shoes - and let's be honest, if you're over the age of the 30 this is one of the top 3 things you can do with your time - then you'll know the types of places you can be transported to. For those already familiar with Anywar, this album represents a deeper dive into life, like shoe-gazing (a vibe Anywar explores with earnest in his previous work) but with your smart/work shoes on. The sultry, exciting baselines remain, as do the explosions of sound, but it's all anchored with a melancholy that screams deeper introspection on life and aging - something at the heart of the album when it was written (it was born from conversations with his father about living to 100, and with his Nan, who lived to 104, hence the title.) For those unfamiliar, it's an exciting and emotional album with all the best parts of Anywar's musical strengths. For both camps, it's well worth a listen.

 

I first came across this artist in September 2023, in Camden, where he was supporting The Heavy. I often struggle to listen critically to new music live as a) I have a deep seated need to always be positive and nice to people so therefore everything always sounds great and I hate the thought of an artist thinking I'm not enjoying their work (working on this with my therapist), and b) I'm often 3 or 4 pints in by the time the music starts so can't usually remember much of it too accurately. Normally, I'd try and listen to a few of the songs before I go so I know what to expect. I didn't on this occasion, because I guess sometimes my wild-style-James-Dean side just breaks out and I live life on the edge, but the Heavy-esque introductory guitar chords to Plainview, from his 2021 album 'Everything's fine', hit me immediately like a Dr Martens to the face and I was hooked. Since then I've been waiting excitedly for a follow up, and 'Centenarian' delivers, buckets of shoes at a time.

 

As ever with Anywar, nothing is formulaic or 'industry standard' when it comes to his songs. In 'Centenarian', every song has a different, individual feel, and most excitingly, an individual rhythm that show cases his personality and influences. Throughout the album, Anywar's signature 'shoe-gaze' style sings through and excites. On the song Centenarian, a moody base line juxtaposes with a humming-bird wingbeat feeling of keys, and there's a contrast of uplifting strings with more forlorn lyrics. This gives the impression that, where 'Everything is fine' was limitless gazing at shoes, sat in the long grass atop a hill late on a summer evening, on your back with your shoes in the air, illuminated by stars, cold drink just inches from your hand, condensation dripping down the side, 'Centenarian' reflects life's experiences tempering, or anchoring, the universe-is-limitless feel.

 

This whole album feels more mature, not in an artistic or capability way, but as though hardened by the realisations and limitations of life. It carries with it a tether to mortality that gives it intensified emotional intent. Cavechild, true to Anywar form, has a superb guitar solo and lots of rippling, bubbly guitar play, yet there is a strings & orchestral layer that anchors the song with a mellow undercurrent. Across the bulk of the songs there is great range in tempo, the final rolling double guitar riff in Cavechild bringing the track to a close in a flourish. In Wall, the song itself seems to evolve, beginning with fast paced, hectic, yet constant drums and guitar, which then becomes an intense chorus with more focussed guitar chords that contrast to the flittering sound of the strings previously.

 

Across the album, catchy choruses burst out like supernovas. All the songs have a build of components throughout, that come together and entwine with each other, like strands of DNA being built - or, to maintain the shoe metaphor, like laces being looped in and tied up. Men of Many Faces stems from conversations with his estranged father about reaching the age of 100, and the line 'In my mind's eye / I see my father / watching me through a window I've made' gives hints as to Anywar's relationship with his father, and how he's dealt with that over the years. This is one of the prettiest choruses in the album, feeling almost hymn-like, and this combined with the repetition of the chorus again steers towards self-reflection. Doomed Black Sidekick kicks in with an indie style drumbeat and simple yet powerful base line, giving the song pace, but floating guitar notes and Anywar's voice contrast to turn what could have easily become a baggy trousered, floppy haired indie pop song about fancying a mate's girlfriend into something much greater. Drums and guitar combine to give an almost funky, rain-drop patter style beat. The spiralling, cyclical guitars burst out at you so it feels like, while staring into the twinkling stars of night silhouetting your feet while on your back on your hill, beautiful constellations appear in front of you out of nowhere, and you're floating through light and time. Through the album, I had contrasting visions of being transported in the middle of the old school Windows Media Player song graphics, all colours and clouds evolving and rotating, or flying through galaxies and spiralling universes, like a soaring galactic albatross. It was really quite fun.

 

The final few tracks on the album continue to showcase different genres, and again highlight Anywar's ability to call upon his range of influences (Ugandan Father, British Mother, raised in Georgia, before moving to the South West of England - miraculously there is no hint of the Wurzels). I See You is mellower, darker, with slower more imposing chorus vocals. A heavier, more brittle guitar plays alongside a more intense, almost Royal Blood style baseline, providing a deeper, sadder contrast to some of the universe cruising sounds from earlier in the album. Covered Head feels like the most mainstream of all the songs, a slight 80s vibe in the verse but with a fast, catchy 'chug' in the bridge. In History, you can feel perhaps more clearly the range of Anywar's musical roots representing themselves. Choral harmonies feel like tribal chanting, while strings peek through the almost 70s, folk Led Zeppelin style guitar now and again, like influences fighting for prominence. The final song, Lordvessel, starts with an explosion of noise, and grows into a signature grooving baseline. The chorus feels like a rebirth, more grounded and calm, as though previous songs were exploring different emotions at different ages, before a big, resolved, evolved finale. There's a slight Stairway to Heaven feel about the culmination of the song, with intense drums, strings and grand sounds before giving way to a repeated, distorted finish.

 

All in all, I really enjoyed this album. It's not my standard, go-to genre (rock / metal / chunky etc) but there's enough electric guitar in this to catch the ear of even the most hairiest of rocker. The big test for me, being a father of two young children who has limited time to himself, is always “Would I listen to this while washing up”, as that's the time when I get to explore new music without interruption (as everyone else miraculously finds other things to be doing) and 100% yes, yes I would. It's very well made, is genuine without being forced, and the different arms and legs of each song mean you can focus in on something different within each track, each time. Plus, if I can be transported to be soaring through a celestial galaxy, momentarily losing myself while staring at my slippers and then, inadvertently, millions of universes, instead of washing up, then that's a win in my eyes.