Suite Escape by Gareth Donkin

With Suite Escape, London-based singer-songwriter and producer Gareth Donkin envisions a soul-rock story as a means of escape. The EP arrives a year beyond his breakthrough full-length debut, which counted Billboard ("a soul-savant") and BBC Radio 6 as fans and brought the 24-year-old to US stages for the first time. But the success of Welcome Home was bittersweet; he struggled to find happiness during the record's rollout. The lush, narrative-driven songs on Suite Escape took shape as Donkin longed for fresh air amidst the anxiety of transition. The resulting work comes from a different headspace and radiates new depth, a surreal and sweet getaway from the games our minds can play.

Donkin's one-man-band benchmarks remain the likes of Prince and Stevie Wonder, while new material leans heavier into soulful rock radio references like Supertramp, Queen, and Earth, Wind and Fire. Instead of starting songs from the drums, focusing first on the groove, he adopted a more traditional technique at the piano, writing chords on the spot and marrying them with melodies and lyrics. "Creating memorable hooks and moments through the instrumentation, beyond a catchy vocal melody," he says. A rubbery bassline dashes through shimmering keys on the dreamy, tender title track and EP opener, introducing Donkin's next direction: "Here's where I'm headed now, I'm well on my way, but first, let me tell you my story."

He wrote the cosmic-funk ballad "Monday Night" at one of his low points. Harmonizing across guitar chords and grittier production, Donkin reaches for the light, hitting his stride halfway through just as the production drops out for a weightless pause and returns with extra glow, "I opened my eyes," he sings. Like the calm after the storm, "Somewhere, Somehow" offers a smooth solace, with its narrator "chasing the sundown." Donkin has never sounded so assured and sweet at the mic, "Brighter days, there's a warm in the air, I'm on my there, it's calling me."

He calls the disco-tinged "Bigger Than Love," co-written with Alex FB, his love letter to music, a celebration of "my love for music, how much it means to me that I can even have a career in music." The guitar sizzles behind his earnest lines before a saxophone solo from Alex Bone steals the show. Next, "Funny Lady" is brimming with jazzy guitar and piano flourishes, co-produced by Syd (The Internet). It’s dedicated to Donkin's girlfriend — "The most genuine and real love song I've ever written," he says. Here, renewed by romance, Donkin is ready for new beginnings.

Surrounded by Off the Wall-era horns, EP closer "Nobody's Perfect" encapsulates self-acceptance, a message for "anyone with ongoing mental health issues," he says. “A big part of getting out of your own head is learning to accept and love yourself." Donkin documents the journey to that realization on Suite Escape, and he does so with dazzling prowess.

UK based, 25 year old Gareth Donkin’s music is a mix of instrumental virtuosity and emotional intuition, blending highly sophisticated melodic and harmonic craftsmanship with deeply moving lyrical explorations of longing, desire, and determination.

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