Unsigned Artist Danny Draycott Releases Epic Pop-Rock Follow-Up EP After All This Time

4.6 out of 5 stars

I got to know UK musician Danny Draycott over some Instagram messages and a couple of calls over the internet, and he premiered an acoustic version of his song “Ghosts (Acoustic)” on our YouTube channel which he had to rearrange to get it to sound incredible without a full band.

Since then, he has been hard at work preparing his new EP - titled "After All This Time" - to follow up his first solo album from 2018 titled Flaws and Grace which was a more of a singer-songwriter, folk-rock effort but still quite good.

The hard work has paid off. Through COVID lockdown and everything else that gets thrown his way, Draycott has put together an incredible sounding EP that blows the door off his previous efforts.

Fully self-recorded (all instruments) and mostly put together, mixed and mastered on his own, the EP is a reflection of the dedication and passion that he has as an artist.

The 6-track release starts off with the song “If I (Could Run To You)” - the first single released from this EP - which sets the tone for the whole album as it has a hopeful and palpable building energy that really makes you want to start pumping your first and bobbing your head.

The overall concept of many of the songs' subject matter really focuses on relationships that one makes over the years and dealing with loss. However, the songs never get bogged down in an emotional lament or outright depression. There is always a sense of “it could get better” or at the very least, “it’s going to be okay.”

The second song on the album is more of an upbeat and high spirits type of song. I have spoken to Draycott about his fandom of Tom Delonge (Blink 182, Angels and Airwaves), and this song is probably the most direct inspiration of the culmination of those bands. It really is like a mix of Blink with AvA. It even has a repetitive “on and on and on and on” singing part in it.

This is not to say that it sounds like a ripoff or anything. You can definitely hear the influence though. The drumming even has a bit of Travis Barker in it. It’s a song you can pump at high volume in your car while driving down the street.

“Ghosts” is the next song on the EP, and it is the song I have heard the most by far. It is a really good song about living with the past and trying to move on. The ebbs and flows in the song give me the impression that there is a bit of mimicking the ups and downs of life itself (the good and bad come hand-in-hand).

The line, “After all this time, why does it hurt?” is probably the most crushing line on the song too even though it is not sung sadly. Probably why it is the title of the EP though.

“Will We Make It Out Alive” is another banging song that is a bit more straightforward than some of the other songs, but that doesn’t take away from its impact. The big sound, catchy hook, and driving pace make it a lot of fun to listen to.

The song “Started Forever” is probably the only song on the album that really has a slower pace to it (that is until the second verse starts). Even during the bridge it does slow down again too, but once it gets to the actual chorus, you can feel the crescendo rise in your bones. 

The music flows with the song as well as it is about moving on, and that’s the kind of hopeful energy the song gives off.

The EP ends with “Believe” which has a nice synth intro straight into a building, pulsing verse that jumps to another high energy chorus.

You definitely get the sense that this EP is all about hope and inspiration and moving on from the past. 

I don’t know that I have heard an unsigned artist put out such a well recorded, mixed and mastered album by themself before. This release is spectacularly done.

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