Short Reviews [Darwin 3 - 2021 - "Unplugged"]

After the first two albums were completed, DarWin, Simon Phillips and Matt Bissonette realised that if they stripped the albums back to just the acoustic and orchestral elements, they had something quite different indeed. Phillips set to undertaking new mixes with the exact same instruments and tracks from the earlier recordings, while Matt also recorded two new solo versions of “Slowly Melting” and “One Horizon” with just his voice and bass. The former is one of the highlights of this release, recorded as a live take with vocals and bass parts at the same time, the combination of the reverb on his vocals and the atmosphere provided by the highly sustained bass notes makes for something quite special indeed. As with the second album, this is considerably shorter than the debut, at only 35 minutes, and was actually originally available as part of a limited edition deluxe release of ‘Darwin 2’ but earlier this year it was released as an album in its own right and to be honest it does deserve to be heard in its own right as the songs are very different indeed when in this stripped down and much less rocky version. It allows them to break out in a far more beautiful manner, and there is far more warmth and passion while also more restrained and delicate. I have really enjoyed all three DarWin albums to date and it will be interesting to hear how the story progresses from this point onwards.