Latenight Brainfreezers by William Cawley
Overall Rating — 8/10
‘Latenight Brainfreezes’ is William Cawleys debut album, which was released in 2018. However, on Friday 8th March 2024, Cawley decided to drop the remastered version due to improvement in his skills of mixing and mastering and wanted to showcase this with some of his earlier work. Most of these tracks were wrote when he was 20 or 21, except the opening track on the album, which was wrote even earlier. This is a project Cawley has dedicated a lot of time and effort into, and that’s excluding the time spent on the original release of the album! Without further ado, onto the review…
1. Melody Hit Maker
‘Melody Hit Maker’ is a track that Cawley describes as his “first proper song” that he wrote when he was in his later teen years. It begins by quickly layering up the instruments with a fast rhythm. The idea behind the track, is to be the best, you’ve got to act like the best and to fake it in some sense. William has explained some background information behind each song on his Instagram (@williamcawley69), which is worth checking out! I think the chord progression is great, it’s snappy and catchy, it coincides well with the drums. I have the lyrics from the chorus stuck in my head, alongside the soft backing vocals which are a great feature of this song. I would have to say my favourite line from this song is, “So obsessed, melody hit maker, why can’t I be your faker?”.
Overall Rating — 8/10
2. Tonight
Cawley stated that this track was used to open gigs and some of the lyrics can be used as a crowd interaction and is fitting for the show ahead. The line which I am referring to is, “I wanna know if I can make you feel alright tonight”. It’s a smooth flowing track, with an extremely catchy riff and an insane guitar solo, which transitions beautifully back into the chorus. Now, the lyrics to the chorus are stuck in my head, with the lines, “Don’t keep me waiting up all night”. I also infer these lyrics as the writer waiting for something to happen and would rather it didn’t prolong — perhaps a love interest? I admire the backing vocals, they add a sixties sound to the track, which is always a great feature. My favourite line from this track is, “I wanna know if you’re feeling alright, I wanna know if tonights the night”.
Overall Rating — 8/10
3. Whinge n Whine
‘Whinge n Whine’ is a great, fast flowing, rock sounding track. The idea behind this song came from the behaviour of Cawley when he was younger, and he was told that he would always complain. In a clever way, he has transferred this about the desire of wanting a girl, shown in the line, “Whinge and whine, all I wanna do is make you mine”. It’s a vocally strong song, in the sense they’re powerful and match the energy of the instrumental. Cawley stumbled across this song when he was messing around with a chord progression on his guitar, and this is what progressed from it. My favourite line from this song is, “Take me, love me, bleed me dry till I’ve nothing left”.
Overall Rating — 8/10
4. Waking Up Is Hard to Do
I think the intro to this song is immense! I believe what I can hear is influenced by The Libertines and their heavy rock sounding instrumentals. The quick and aggressive chord progression coincides with the punchy vocals. Lyrically, this is exactly what the title says and is something we all relate to. Especially if you consider that the writer was in the university routine at the time this song was wrote, presumably going out drinking and then not wanting to face the world the next day. The feel for the song changes in the bridge, with a reggae rhythm which then builds back up to what we had previously heard. Amongst this build up, we hear a wicked guitar solo! My favourite line from this track is, “Waking up past midday what a shame, is there a trophy I can claim”.
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Overall Rating — 8/10
5. 18 Going on 21
What a great introduction to this song, with inspiration from The Ramones’ track — ‘Hey! Ho! Let’s Go’, and it very much sets the theme for a rock/punk rock song. It’s also worth noting the drums at the beginning of this track are great. They coincide with the guitar to create a loud and heavy noise with a fast groove. I can also hear elements of The Strokes in this song, just before the guitar solo. This track was written when Cawley was twenty-one and reflects on how he still feels like he is the younger, naïve eighteen-year-old he used to be. Like many young people, searching for the right person on a romantic level remains paramount in our lives, and this is explored by the writer in this track. It mentions the tediousness of online dating, when it comes to swiping left and right, and not knowing what is going to come from this. My favourite line from this track and a one I can relate to as a twenty-one-year-old myself is, “But I’m just growing older, maybe growing colder”.
Overall Rating — 9/10
6. Ain’t Nobody Blues
What instantly strikes me about this track is the hooking riff at the start of the song. For some reason, I can imagine Oompa Lumpas dancing to this part of the song, as it has a resemblance to a song from one of the scenes in the second release of, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. Moving on from this, Cawley wrote this track essentially to showcase his knowledge and skill of the blues roots. I’d say it’s more of an instrumental track, with some sections of vocals. After the first section of the vocals, it returns to the opening riff which I just can’t get enough of. Briefly after the two minute and thirty second mark of the song, there is an insane squeal, adding another great layer of texture to this song. In the few lyrics that feature in this song, it explores the writers struggles in finding love and forming relationships. My favourite line from this track is, “Ain’t nobody love since you don’t”.
Overall Rating — 8/10
7. How Did I Know
What instantly strikes me is how angry the guitar sounds. When the rest of the instruments are layered up, there is an aggressive and heavy sound to the track. When you understand the context behind the lyrics, it makes sense. Essentially, the writer is telling us how he confided in a friend about a potential relationship, only for his friend to end up with the same girl, which alludes to the question: how did he know that was going to happen? I think the instrumental changes throughout this track are fitting to the title because they’re unexpected and they caught me by surprise. My favourite line from this track is, “You walk around like it is all pretend, how did I know this would happen in the end”.
Overall Rating — 8/10
8. Goodbye (An Open Letter)
What a fitting title for the final track of the album. It’s an open letter in which Cawley pours his heart out and is aimed at the character from the previous song. It’s worth noting that this song doesn’t reflect how the writer is feeling now and it was wrote at the beginning of his twenties. It begins with a clean picked acoustic guitar pattern, and is vocally calm, but with a sense of passive aggression. At the halfway point the track, we bid farewell to the acoustic part of the song and the song has a new lease of life. This could represent the writer acknowledging the situation he had with this girl is over, and this is his way of showing he’s moved on. It has a heavier and fuller sound, with an electric guitar playing an insane solo! The wailing of the guitar adds emotion and passion, which coincides with the lyrics we had heard in the first part of the song. My favourite line from this song is, “I was there, I was there the whole time, but you, you only wasted mine”.
Overall Rating — 8/10
Favourite Song — 18 Going On 21
Favourite Line — “But I’m just growing older, maybe growing colder”.
