Ren Gill is a revelation. The Welsh multi-hyphenate artist built his sound on a foundation of old school hip hop, busking-honed guitar, and incisive wordplay. His musical chops are formidable, and the trauma associated with a decade-plus daily struggle with mental illness brought on by undiagnosed Lyme Disease adds an emotional depth to his lyrics.
He records as Ren, and on any given record can go from dazzling stream of consciousness rap to gentle ballad to near-pop sensibility. He's a hard cat to pin down.
So maybe just have a listen. Here's hoping more of the world learns his story (and do catch the NPR interview below he did in 2023 promoting the release of his album, Sick Boi - the daily pain he still suffers makes his music all the more remarkable).
This is an acoustic noodling of 2020's "Diazepam":
"Seven Sins" is the first track from Sick Boi - this one hits hard:
"Hi Ren" was released in 2022:
His cover of the Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" is where he first came to my attention
Might be my favorite of his songs - he wrote "Patience" for the 2017 soundtrack to Unrest, a documentary film about a woman's battle against chronic fatigue syndrome:
"What You Want" is a full on Beastie Boys homage - dig it:
Here's the NPR interview mentioned above:
And finally, a Spotify playlist that captures Ren in all of his guises:
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that guy is a lot, but i do love the dude walking around in the background of the first video-- and the beastie homage . . .
ReplyDeleteLyme disease is no joke. I have two chronic Lyme sufferers in my household. Herbal antibiotics help manage flare ups nowadays, but figuring it out was a journey that involved a bit of woo-woo medicine.
ReplyDeleteHe sounds a bit like the singer from The Kooks, a band I enjoy. Wide range of sounds here.
ReplyDeleteHappy Bobby Bonilla Day to those who celebrate
ReplyDeleteSimon David Williamson approves.
ReplyDeleteAye
ReplyDeletehi gheorghies
ReplyDeleteI leave for a short family vacation tomorrow. 4 days on the beach with all of my family. So naturally, I was looking forward to slacking at work today and starting my vacation a bit early. Things did not work out for your boy.
ReplyDeletezson is working at a local stable this summer. He makes sure little kids don't fall off of ponies at birthday parties, or that bigger-than-little kids don't fall off of horses at summer camp, and he does a lot of horse maintenance, water carrying, shit shoveling, and so on. He comes home sweaty and exhausted and eats all our food. It's great. But last night he pulled me aside to complain about his balls, specifically how all this sweat and work is chafing them. So I gave him some Gold Bond. It blew his mind. "I've got smooth-ass balls now!" he exclaimed. "It's like I smoothed them out with sand paper! No chafing, no batwings, it's awesome!" The circle of life my friends.
ReplyDeleteI remember jugs carlezimoff sharing Juan Carlos’ talc tips early in my w&m days. I prolly should a shared that wisdom with my kid who stuffs his junk into all kind of dance attire, but I’m a selfish prick, it would appear.
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