Few artists can capture the spectrum of emotions that come with love and heartache as plaintively beautifully as Ewan Mainwood can.
His debut EP ‘Broken’ articulated the lows that come as you attempt to come to terms with a break-up, yet his follow-up, ‘I Found You’, saw him celebrating the dawn of a new love. His affecting voice and relatable stories connected on stage and on stream, leading to shows as guest to Ed Sheeran, Maisie Peters, DYLAN and Tom Walker,one of his first headline shows at Omeara and Radio 1 Future Pop airplay from Mollie King.
Now the 23-year-old releases his first new music of the summer as he shares two new songs: ‘Hold On Me’ and the accompanying b-side ‘Lapse In Love’. After the positivity of ‘I Found You’, these new songs show that the course of true love doesn’t always run smoothly – it’s more like a rollercoaster of unexpected twists.
‘Hold On Me’ represents a stellar step forward in Ewan’s sound, his melodic piano-based songwriting and sweet falsetto flavoured with subtle alt-pop beats and synths. While his sound has evolved, his words still capture exactly how you can feel when overwhelmed by a break-up: “Told my friends I don’t care, I’m alright / But I’ve still got the pictures we took that first night.”
Ewan says, “‘Hold On Me’ came from a place of trying to keep a guard up and not letting a break-up affect you, especially in front of your friends, but really the past relationship still has a hold on you. It’s a feeling of pride where you don’t want people to know that someone has broken you.”
The other song, ‘Lapse In Love’, takes on a more experimental edge. The production is focused upon layering multiple vocal recordings into a tapestry of sound, the result drawing as much emotion from the lead vocal as it does the harmonies that swoon around it. The backdrop is suitably spacious, with a skeletal beat, mournful synths and austere piano allowing Ewan’s words to express their full power. Lyrically it comes from a similar place to ‘Hold On Me’: the drug of mutual love lost to the comedown of mutual hate.
He adds, “‘Lapse In Love’ is about the push and pull after a relationship, the confusing space between parting ways for good and still clinging on to the hope the relationship can be fixed. Then the moment of realisation that there is a lapse in the feelings for each other needed to hold the relationship together.”
Both songs were written by Ewan, with co-write credits on ‘Hold on Me’ for The Nocturns (Lauv, Mimi Webb, Maisie Peters), and on ‘Lapse In Love’ for Nick Hahn (IVE, James TW, Dagny) who also produced both tracks.
Growing up in north London, Ewan Mainwood always loved music, whether it was jumping on the piano at school to play whatever songs his friends requested, or diving into the catalogues of artists such as Ed Sheeran, Sam Fender, James Bay, Lewis Capaldi and Frank Ocean. He developed his talents by playing his late grandfather’s piano and would fill endless notepads with ideas for lyrics. But when he started a relationship while studying in Leeds, music fell on the backburner. When that relationship ended, he connected with regular collaborator RISC who was going through a similar experience. Together they wrote a collection of emotive songs, which not only led to the ‘I Found You’ EP, but changed the shape of both of their futures.
Having also refined his credentials as a live performer following festival sets at Latitude, Barn on the Farm and The Great Escape, Ewan has a number of shows on the horizon. After selling out Omeara last year, his next London headline shows steps up to Lafayette on October 23rd – tickets for which are available here. Next week he will embark upon a short tour of Germany with M. Byrd and Jupiter Flynn, while festivals include FM4 Frequency and Rolling Stone Beach.
JUNE
20th – Germany, Berlin, Festsall Kreuzberg (with M. Byrd and Jupiter Flynn)
21st – Germany, Hamburg, Knust Lattenplatz Open Air (with M. Byrd and Jupiter Flynn)
22nd – Germany, Essen, Weststadthalle (with M. Byrd and Jupiter Flynn)
AUGUST
19th – Austria, FM4 Frequency Festival
OCTOBER
23rd – UK, London, Lafayette (HEADLINE SHOW)
NOVEMBER
10th – Germany, Rolling Stone Beach Festival