NICK WARD - EVERYTHING I WISH I TOLD YOU EP
Full of the sweetness and melancholy of nostalgia for younger days all wrapped up in a bundle of lo-fi hip hop and catchy pop melodies: the EP is a complex and sometimes painful story told simply and beautifully.
I’ve often thought that if there was any good to come out of the Covid crisis, it would be a huge wealth of newly discovered, or newly exploited creativity and talent. With people stuck at home, many out of work, what is there to do but pick up a paintbrush or a guitar?
Nick Ward’s debut EP, Everything I Wish I Told You, is testament to this idea, having been predominantly written, produced and mixed by the 19-year-old Sydney based songwriter/producer in the confines of his bedroom during lockdown 2020.
Opening with real audio taken at his birth – the newborn cry morphing into the frustrated scream of a young man in the throes of finding out what life is all about – this powerful coming of age EP takes a trip through Nick’s life, posing questions many of us have carried with us as we’ve grown up, and deals with ideas of identity, sexuality and masculinity.
The real centre piece to this record —and the emotional climax in Nick’s story – comes in the form of ‘I Wanna Be Myself or Nothing At All’. Here we are told the “explicit details” of Nick’s coming out. Confusion, vulnerability and a sense of fear are beautifully depicted with lyrics like “We’re gonna make it somehow. I never lived in the truth until now/Remembering the days when I wished I was straight and I wished I was like the people that I hate.”
The EP’s featured single ‘FMF!’ Is about as relatable as any song can get: “I spend the day in bed, wake up, do it all again now/Feeling low, I’m feeling dead/fuck a job and fuck my friends” could be the anthem for the year we’ve all had.
All in all this is a fantastic EP. Full of the sweetness and melancholy of nostalgia for younger days, and the angst and anxiety of growing up, all wrapped up in a bundle of lo-fi hip hop and catchy pop melodies: a complex and sometimes painful story told simply and beautifully. We can’t wait to hear what Nick has in store next.
Jess Distill
★★★★☆