Ezra Williams - Supernumeraries

This debut from Ezra Williams follows a growing buzz, the Irish singer-songwriter having made their name (which was, for a while instead Smoothboi Ezra) with intimate, confessional songwriting at a time when it was arguably most needed. ‘Supernumeraries’, named for their medical excess of teeth as a young child is ostensibly a coming-of-age record, both by virtue of Ezra’s age (still just 21) and its protagonist’s wish to detail the world as seen through the eyes of a non-binary autistic person. And indeed, there’s a sense of journey: opener ‘Skin’ begins sparsely, its strummed guitar and Ezra’s vocal front and centre, almost claustrophobic. The record ends with a cacophony of screaming and wailing guitars fading into the distance as the six-minute ‘Seventeen’ offers gnarly, expansive sonic catharsis. But it’s the smart juxtapostions that set ‘Supernumeraries’ above; the wholly dark refrain of “Why can’t I change?” that peppers ‘Deep Routed’ is delivered via sweetly harmonising layered vocals, while the crescendo of ‘Babyteeth’ - “I don’t feel as sad as I used to” - is as angsty as the record gets. Both methods only make Ezra’s message hit harder. An emotionally-wrought debut that finds release if not resolution, it should more than continue the buzz.