If we’re going by title alone, Werner Bekker’s In My Cluttered Head feels like it wraps up just about all of our headspaces after the grueling marathon that was 2020. It’s a chronicle on living a little too much in the mind, and all the emotions which come to light in there. It’s also a hauntingly emotive collection of mostly love songs, here for your sappy indulgement.
Recorded in a cluttered home studio – which Bekker took to when it was just about the only place he could go – In My Cluttered Head is a collection of songs birthed from experiences over the last two years. A full-circle ride of emotion which reaches beyond his experiences right into the lister’s own world.
Fine tuned acoustic guitar and crooning lyricism prime the tracks. He follows a well-paved indie-folk sound, as wholesome as it is familiar. Snappy kick drum and percussive rhythm keep things in check before they venture too far down the rabbit hole of feelings.
Opener “Thin Line” is anthemic in its simplicity, while “Daydreaming” follows suit with a moreish chorus line which chronicles the wayward wanderings on your afternoon mind. And a feathery ambience underlies the majority of the EP – from the country-esque jangling guitar of “Back To You”, to the melancholia of “Howling”. Thematically, it’s a collection of love songs, for the most part. “It’s You” is a Jack Johnson-y cutesy ode to his darling, while he waxes lyrical on his own shortcomings in love in “To Memory”.
In my Cluttered Head sounds far from it – rather a cohesive collection of ruminations. And he stands a head and shoulders above the rest within the scope of a well-trodden genre.
