Wons Phreely

This first official EP from Sydney singer-songwriter portrays a young artist who isn’t afraid to let his quirks shine through, resulting in a beautiful yet slightly warped collection of songs. Winding his gentle voice around a sprawling yet uncluttered soundscape of guitars, keys, organ, harmonica, synths, and sampled soundbites, Phreely delivers intelligent lines such as, “…meanwhile the body count kept mounting, thought it didn’t seem anybody ever bothered with counting” (‘Soldiers), and, “…everything will be AOK, from religion to real estate” (‘Another Thing’). With four equally strong songs, this EP marks its maker as an exciting artist to watch. - Time Off Magazine

Immediately intoxicating, Wons Phreely shares the rich breath of Chris Martin’s voice and the sharply sweet songwriting of Ben Kweller, to whom he is often compared. This is the very first release from the West Australian talent and it spills over with beautiful rhymes and bubbling melodies, with four distinct shades on the four track EP. Another Thing bursts with muscled pop bounce onto the landscape, in the naïve indie bluster of a Ben Lee or a Badly Drawn Boy, unrelenting in its good humour and energy. Wons’ deft, literary lyricism shines on Rules of Nature as a balladry love emerges warmly ironic from his smiling words, and Temper Temper dances lightly half way between The Eels and Bob Evans. Closing with Soldiers, a fitful folk fable of unexpected melodic twists, Phreely puts his voice out front and winds his sunny way through whipping words of beguiling intelligence. A great new talent. - The Drum Media

Immediately intoxicating, Wons Phreely shares the rich breath of Chris Martin’s voice and the sharply sweet songwriting of Ben Kweller, to whom he is often compared. This is the very first release from the West Australian talent and it spills over with beautiful rhymes and bubbling melodies, with four distinct shades on the four track EP. Another Thing bursts with muscled pop bounce onto the landscape, in the naïve indie bluster of a Ben Lee or a Badly Drawn Boy, unrelenting in its good humour and energy. Wons’ deft, literary lyricism shines on Rules of Nature as a balladry love emerges warmly ironic from his smiling words, and Temper Temper dances lightly half way between The Eels and Bob Evans. Closing with Soldiers, a fitful folk fable of unexpected melodic twists, Phreely puts his voice out front and winds his sunny way through whipping words of beguiling intelligence. A great new talent. - Beat Magazine

There is an unmistakable charm to the music of Wons Phreely. Maybe it's the low-fi recording style, the wind-tunnel vocals or the general DIY feel. Whatever it is, when it comes together well as is the case with the opening track, Another Thing, it's a beautiful thing. An uplifting piece of music that threatens to rise into pinnacles of emotion at several points only to be brought right down to a catchy chorus. It's an unpredictable and interesting piece of music. Surely to end up on end-of-year mix tapes around these parts.
The four full length tracks on this EP flow fantastically from start to finish. They are undeniably pop songs. Pop songs on a budget. From the well-selected, forementioned opening track the mood is shifted down a few notches with the title track. Temper Temper is another pop gem. Slightly cheesy yet the homemade feel making it seem far from forced. The closing track Soldiers hangs on a by a thread with its fragile melody. A great way to close this release.
The two interlude tracks, Winterlude 1 and Winterlude 2, that may have fitted in on a full length, are the only sore points on what is a fantastic debut release from the Sydney soloist. He has the pop sensibility and song writing ability to craft intelligent and slightly unpredictable pieces of music. There are very few moments on this release where the path of the song is clear and the format becomes tiresome. Wons keeps it interesting and insures that people will not only want to put this EP on repeat but also hunger for more material.
- Polaroids of Androids

To say this gig was intimate would be an understatement. More than anything, it felt like sitting in Wons Phreely’s lounge room, listening to a slightly more serious rehearsal, complete with fairy lights and a few other friends. Assuming at least that friends make you pay for your own alcohol.

The choice to do a residency is an interesting one – reviews aren’t the time for philosophy about how performances should happen, but the idea of creating a steady audience seems to work well with Phreely’s sense of music. Joined in this the first week by AB from Sparkadia, it wasn’t only the small audience and the dimly let venue that created a sense of intimacy, it was the style of music as well. As stupid as it sounds, these musicians are ones who focus on their songs, there was no sign of spectacle and even a barrier between artist and the small audience. Both told stories between songs and gave away personal insights as introductions, breaking down that fourth wall and letting everyone in. While part of the night had to be due to the tiny number of people watching, it’s a concept that fits.

AB had a more traditional sense of the pop song, his set was a little quieter and his voice was especially captivating, the scene of Oxford St blacked out with fairy lights and even more stories in a musical form. Unfortunately, despite checking with the venue in regards to start times, I managed to miss half this set and caught only the tail end of this performance.

Described as new pholk, a term no one appears to be able to give a real definition of, Phreely is better than your average singer songwriter on nearly all terms. His music seems distinctly tied to the here and now, with physical images and songs that appeared to exist at once on a personal level, even while they are set in the context of a bigger world. Rules of Nature is a perfect example of this, possibly the only song that seriously mentions amoebas in any context, let alone a song about a potential relationship. Dumbass capture another side of Phreely’s writing. In a strange way, he seems to draw attention to the idea of music, tearing apart the structure and elements of a song to create another tale. Bigger questions are asked, but the answers come from the smaller details.

This is a movement that works well on a small stage when you can hear the lyrics without effort, it creates an interesting point of view, where other singer-songwriters may struggle to break out of a mould or create their own sound. Of course, comparisons are apt with other writers in the genre, but it is this lyrical perspective that makes Phreely stand out amongst other artists who also divide their set between acoustic and electric songs that normally deal with romantic relationships.

It is this same idea that also means the residency is a fantastic chance to see him play live. The quirky lyrics are heard the first time, but after seeing him several times, it’s possible to start picking up new elements of each song. Intelligent pop is always a slightly confusing term, but here the songs stand up to the scrutiny of repeat listenings and it will be interesting to see the way they change over the six week period. It is, in most ways, a musical experiment and elements of it failed during the first week. The audience was simply too small for a real crowd reaction, a sing along bought laughter but barely any volume. The fact is though, the talent was on show and one can only hope that the word will grow.
- FasterLouder Live Review