Peter MacDonald’s debut EP Nothing is an intensely personal collection that achieves more over five songs than many full-length albums manage. Drawing from a gamut of influences, MacDonald concocts an idiosyncratic and irresistible musical brew that grows on listeners with each additional listen. The five tracks work individually and yet hang together as a cohesive thematic statement sharing first-class production values at every turn. First release or not, it’s obvious after a single airing that MacDonald has honed his craft to a fine edge before committing these tracks to the recording process and it results in one of 2023’s most notable debuts.
The opener “Punching Bag” leans on a raucous yet well-written guitar rock sound to impressive effect. MacDonald doesn’t have a traditional “front man” voice, but it’s emotive and never anything less than convincing. His lyrical acumen is obvious from the outset. Moreover, his gift for striking vocal melodies distinguishes the performance as well. He eschews the typical and cliched six-string histrionics listeners may associate with such fare while still embracing a rough and ready sound capable of inspiring mass appeal.
Synthesizers punctuate the guitar-driven arrangement for “Far from Perfect”. It’s another example of MacDonald’s melodic skills, particularly during the chorus. The latter provides the song’s key payoff moment for listeners as the texture broadens impressively without pulling the song out of its established territory. Two songs in and it’s clear MacDonald has a substantial talent for writing accessible yet substantive songs with a mature pop edge. He adroitly handles the personal, even confessional, slant of the compositions without upsetting the balance of each performance.
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“Trap Star” is another excellent track. He builds the song’s satisfying stop-start arrangement around the guitar once again and the bass playing shines. There are several excellent lines scattered throughout the track and it adds up to an overall whole that bears repeated listens. It’s reminiscent, in some ways, of a much more melodic Lou Reed, particularly MacDonald’s vocal delivery. He dispenses with the electric in favor of acoustic guitar for the penultimate track “Here I Am” without losing a step. It is in the same lyrical vein as its predecessors and gains in intimacy what it sacrifices in sonic firepower. The wordless vocals near the conclusion are especially effective.
He closes the EP with the deceptively mellow “I Want to Get Out”. The lyrics are arguably the best among the EP’s five tracks and that’s high praise considering the high standard set by its predecessors. There’s an unexpected shift a little after the song’s halfway mark that gives it an entirely different musical character without ever jarring the listener. It’s an impressive finale to one of the year’s most impressive, albeit brief, releases. Peter MacDonald’s Nothing is far from nothing; it’s a substantial achievement the Syracuse, New York musician, singer, and songwriter can build on from here. His first full-length release should be something any fan of serious songwriting looks forward to as the building blocks are in place for something even more remarkable.
Garth Thomas
