Wesley Gonzalez – ‘Appalling Human’

Euphoric, cathartic: A beauty from start to finish, writes Cori Ann Smith.

Former Indie frontman of Let’s Wrestle and 6 music favourite, Wesley Gonzalez, hits us with a dreamy pop wave of synths with the successor to his debut album, Appalling Human. Gonzalez describes his melancholy-disco offering as ‘post-therapy,’ an antithesis to his ‘pre-therapy’ Excellent Musician – present in his mordacious lyrical retrospective amongst synthesisers, Co-producer Euan Hinshelwood’s saxophone and slap bass.

Collaborating with a new line up, consisting of Joe Chilton on bass, vocals from Rose Dougal, Bobby Voltaire on drums, Callum Duffy on synths, finally mixed by James Greenwood, allowed Wes to bring a musical denouement to his creative ambition on this project.

From start to finish, you find yourself injected with synth-filled nostalgia combined with Cocker-esque crooning and sincerity. Whilst it’s an overall beauty, here’s are my standout tracks on this poppy outing:

The slow-disco funk grooves and punchy post punk of Wind Your Neck In, which does also happen to be embedded in my own personal lexicon, is the perfect ‘swaying at a festival on a sunny evening’ song, sure to be a favourite with the people mourning the loss of outdoor music events this Summer!

Change is an emotive, synth-soaked triumph with a cracking bassline that compliments Gonzalez’s nonchalant urgency throughout the track. The demanding yet, hopeless introspective of Fault Of The Family is wonderfully sharp in wit and whimsy, reasserting the personal journey that Gonzalez himself has been on in the making of this record.

Wesley Gonzalez | Photo credit – Holly Whitaker

The startlingly melodic final track Did You Get What You Paid For? delivers a pastiche of ‘90s Brit-Pop and 70’s soul, accompanied by the breathy melodies of Rose Dougal’s backing vocals, embellished with smoky saxophone & solidified in Gonzalez’s eccentricity that shines through the entire record.

A delightful summer record exploring public introspection teamed with a dancefloor that is as cathartic as it is euphoric.


❉ Wesley Gonzalez – “Appalling Human” is out now on Moshi Moshi Records. Order the album HERE.

❉ Cori Ann Smith is a writer for We Are Cult. A Cardiff-based Literature grad, Horror nerd & eclectic Indie cindy, you’ll mostly find her immersed in a book or in a festival crowd, usually with a beer. Perpetually working on a book of short stories… @coriflowercheez on Twitter.

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