Edwin R Stevens - A Plague of Gimps LP

Welsh-born, now Glasgow-based writer and recording artist, Edwin R Stevens presents A PLAGUE OF GIMPS, a minimal and absurd 10 song affair dwelling on grief, hereditary dumb f*ck blues, false memory, nuclear bunkers and blood-letting gimps amongst other things.

You may know Edwin from his Irma Vep pseudonym and a peerless back catalogue on labels such as Faux Disc and Gringo. He was also behind The Web Of Lies album "Nude With Demon" (Wrong Speed, 2022) as well as the guitar portion of free-rocking duo Yerba Mansa (among many other projects).

In 2021, Emyr Williams (rest in power, hero) asked Edwin to make an album under his own name for his label Ankst, resulting in the incredible "God On All Fours" (2023). Perhaps it’s too simple to say that making music under his own name allowed Edwin to be more honest, direct and personal but it certainly feels that way to anyone listening.

"A Plague Of Gimps" is the follow-up. The gimps of the title would seem to refer to the mental intrusions that tie us all in knots. We revisit, replay and over-think to infinity, time ticking as our single shot at happiness and fulfilment slides into a whirlpool of repetitious thought.
Those recurring / intrusive themes still shape the songs but now it feels they’re being dealt with differently. Edwin describes "A Plague Of Gimps" as a “hangover” of the previous album – the themes of "God On All Fours" linger but are no longer obsessions:
“I can tell I’m moving on, and I’m proud/happy with that”

You can hear this too. The lyrics feel more refined – the stories might be longer and more densely-packed, but the storytelling is sharper. The absurd imagery that characterises Edwin’s work was always used to disarm and disrupt but now it puts the listener in a place where the heaviness of the story can hit the hardest. The instrumentation is stripped back to give those lyrics the space they need and the sonic choices illuminate the songs perfectly and magically.

A word from Wrong Speed: this record destroys us. We've lived with it for some time now and it's burnt itself into us. There's heavy music out there with battle jackets and big amps and edgy imagery and whatever else. But this is different. This is crushing. The space in the music left for the voice is like leaving a door ajar to let the monster in.
"A Plague Of Gimps" is a beautiful and personal record. A moment in a life caught and bottled perfectly and uniquely.

Put simply: no one does it like this.