‘Doing Stuff is Hard’ is the plaintive title of the new EP from Glaswegian singer-songwriter Shambles Miller. It starts with ‘The shortest song I’ve ever written is the one with the longest title’ which introduces the EP’s themes of worry, neurosis and self-doubt along with a healthy dollop of self-deprecation and humour.
‘Worriers’ is a rousing song about somebody who’s worried ‘every choice they make will be the wrong one’. In one of the lines Shambles sings ‘I’d like to think I’m more than just a comedy musician’ and this song proves that although his lyrics often play for laughs, they have a lot of pathos and genuine emotion. The song comes to an uplifting finale with Shambles singing ‘Worriers, come out to play/You don’t have to be scared all the time, things will be ok’.
‘Neil’s Song’ is an ode to Shambles best friend. Again, there’s humour but also honest sentiment, as the song highlights the difficulties men often face in expressing their feelings. As Shambles sings ‘You’ve got to understand/I love this man/although for guys that’s hard to say/Why? Because people say ‘Gay’.
The EP takes a rather meta turn with ‘Daredevil’, a song about the process of trying to write a song and the temptations of procrastination (eg. watching Daredevil) and is followed by the musically upbeat but lyrically angst-ridden ‘Aaaaarrrgh!’. Shambles slows down proceedings with some finger-picking for the romantic closer ‘Rapture’ crooning ‘So the world’s about to end/so let’s be more than friends/maybe naked friends.’
Shambles Miller could be compared to troubadours like Frank Turner in that his songs have an energy and rawness to them but he also has a wit, panache and charm that is all his own.
@isthismusic Thanks for the review!
@isthismusic @shamblesmiller “worriers, come out to play”, what a line 🙂
@black_inter @isthismusic Haha, thanks! Until recently I was genuinely starting to worry that everyone hated the EP. #phew
AND here’s a wee review just in case you need convincing 😁 https://t.co/K3wySgyo2b