EP review – Dominic Wolf: Fool EP

• 10th Sep 2021

The best things come in small packages, or so the saying has it. It’s certainly true in the case of the three very compact tracks that make up the ‘Fool’ EP by East London artist Dominic Wolf.

They may be small in running time – none of them hits the four minute mark – but each is a mini epic in its own right. ‘Where You Are’ starts off with a subtle Afrobeat thump and nicely scratchy guitar before transforming itself into a glitchy house groove, the organic sound of the vocals swaddled in weird Aphex-style electronics.

The title track, meanwhile, alternates between raw acoustic strumming and big, heavy slow motion hip-hop beats, Wolf in full on emotional mode over the gloriously epic cacophony. It’s also got one of those choruses that you know will be harder to shift than chewing gum on the underside of your trainers.

Shortest of all is the more blunted sounding ‘Junebug’, but even though it has 90 seconds in which to do it, it manages to rouse itself to a more animated climax.

“Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about being a fool and being fooled, it almost feels like a rite of passage as you move deeper into adulthood,” says Dominic. “It’s a part of growing up, finding your own truth and fighting for it. With all that in the back of my head, I made the “Fool” EP. Each track tells a different story, stories that are very personal but which I’ve come to realise are far from uncommon.”

Genre-blending diversity and experimentation. is very much the order of the day, and Wolf’s sound is refreshingly original. But this is knob twiddling very much without the self indulgence, plus there’s some quality songwriting at play too –

If you’re looking for a comparison then Beck’s more DIY work would certainly give you an idea of the spirit of Wolf’s work, if not the exact sound. For that, you’ll really have to hear it yourself – but we reckon you won’t regret it.

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