frYars - Dark Young Hearts

The wait is almost over. frYars, one-man band, the 19-year-old Ben Garrett, is gearing up to unleash his full-length debut, ‘Dark Young Hearts’. The years in the making, it seems as though the album has been delayed forever, even being put back a week from what we all assumed was the concrete release date of 14th September. The good thing, though, is that was most definitely worth the wait. He has been compared to such luminaries as Hot Chip, The Magnetic Fields and Roxy Music, though his theatrical vocal style seems Jarvis Cocker or Patrick Wolf-esque in places. And ‘Visitors’ sounds suitably like Depeche Mode. Dave Gahan even chips in on vocals.

‘Dark Young Hearts’ is a diverse record indeed, you should be pleased to hear. We have the electro-pop stomp of current single ‘Olive Eyes’, the rather, erm, interesting video for which is around if you fancy a look. We have the predominantly acoustic guitar-driven ‘A Last Resort’, a great song, which, unfortunately, contains as many cringeworthy lyrics as it does brilliant ones: ‘When the mind is a mushroom / But the words come easily’ versus ‘I’m in insurance / I fuck up my future’. Bass and crashing drums enter as the song draws to a close, making for a quirky listen indeed.

In fact, that’s the very word we would use to describe the majority of this album: ‘quirky’. Whether in the lyrics (‘Now you can see there’s a mess you’re in / No problems solved without ketamine / And it’s probably best that you stay in your home / For I’d rather stick to my ethanol’ from ‘Novelist’s Wife) or the song arrangements - the skewed take on pop that is ‘Ananas Trunk Railway’ is the standout here - Garrett never does things the conventional way.

For all the ominous tones of its title, ‘Dark Young Hearts’ is a remarkably upbeat listen. All except for one track, and this is what is stopping the album from getting a higher score. Closer ‘Morning’ is not a bad song by any means, but it just doesn’t fit in with the rest of the collection. A much better choice for Garrett would have been to end the album on ‘Benedict Arnold’, and on a high, in keeping with the rest of the album.

This aside, though, he has created something very good indeed. Arresting, interesting, and (for the most part) a whole lot of fun, ‘Dark Young Hearts’ is a remarkably confident debut.