Sharing a first name alone, Ewan Macfarlane appears far more talented than the person reviewing his work. But his latest track, Milk, is a fascinating piece that has darker intonations despite its dedicated themes. Macfarlane is broad yet clear with these strokes of dedication on this track. It has the relativity to music new and old that singles from recent memory have not managed to collate. Where some are trying desperately to hone out something completely new, carving out and clawing away with desperation at a new pocket of a genre already scraped through, Macfarlane finds comfort in the interest of his influences, his muse and his own work. It is enough for an artist to challenge their own genre stay, and that is what Milk does for the former The Grim Northern Social frontman.
Credit to Macfarlane for trying to hone those influences on a track that moves him away from the usual conventions of his music. It is a gamble, and Milk, for all its honesty and weighty prose, is a very solid track that relies on a very tight and cutting guitar riff to open up. It feels sultry, and the lyrics that push through, cutting that guitar off, are of the same weighty exposure. Desire and hope can be felt in those lyrics, as they can in all the best tracks of love and hopefulness. Definitive in its soul and its tonal changes to that which came before it, Milk is a track Macfarlane can point to throughout his career as that ever-chased desire for a new high of intrigue.
That janky guitar strikes back after a few verses, Milk is a very vocal-oriented song, though. Key to that is a discipline in lyrical strength, which Macfarlane has in spots. “I fell in a spell to a handwritten letter,” is not just a solid line, but delivered with the conviction necessary to land such a lyric. Macfarlane gambles with his own emotions on a dangerous track, the results are strong and there is a clear and obvious pride to be found on a track like this. That repetition of “she is so for me” lingers on throughout the track, which provides such a great inference through simple writing. Milk does well to engage that simple structure, because doing so gives Macfarlane the space to make it as complex as he likes, and considering just where he takes this track, it is rewarding, to say the least.
For listener and performer, Milk is an engaged experience with a clear dedication at its heart. Riffing on the memories he has of his partner, Jo, the work Macfarlane provides is as personal as it gets. There is always some new level, some eager respect or interest, in an artist providing audiences and listeners with a glimpse into their lives. Milk is not so much a glimpse as it is a tearing down of the curtain, where Macfarlane graces his audience with a resounding view into his own life and the longing he had for someone he is with. There is beauty within this track, but it comes from truth.
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