Album Review: SYML, SYML

The brainchild of former Barcelona (not the football team) man Brian Fennell, Syml means “simple” in Welsh. The music, however, refuses to be tied down to one style. This self-titled debut is full of rewarding and often heart-wrenching music. His star is very much in the ascendant.

Emboldened and encouraged by the success of the folksy ‘Where Is My Love?’, which amassed 300 million streams and soundtracked the likes of Gen Z drama Teen Wolf, Syml is brimming with confidence. Over the course of 12 tracks, Fennell tries his hand at early new wave (‘Clean Eyes’); ’80s pop in the vein of Taylor Swift’s 1989 (‘Bed’); and what can only be described as Jeff Buckley-meets-bleeding edge electronic music (‘The Bird’). Fennell’s vocals (specifically his falsetto) tie the whole record together. With Syml, Brian Fennell has come of age.

Out now.