With On Stranger Hills set for release in November, W. Y. Huang has now returned with brand new single ‘Afraid To Go Outside’. Again painted with a tender, introspective hue, the song evokes loneliness and social anxiety with a suitably hesitant sound. “I’m afraid to go outside / stayed in too long / now the sunlight hurts my eyes,” Huang sings in the opening lines, “don’t know if I’m strong enough.” Yet through this hushed uncertainty emerges a suggestion of intimacy, and thus in turn a delicate sense of connection. As though in voicing fears of isolation and despondency with such honesty, W. Y. Huang transcends his own experience and opens the line to communicate with others who find themselves in the same position.

On Stranger Hills will be released on the 4th November. ‘Afraid To Go Outside’ is available from the usual places.

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Both tracks typified a collection created with a kind of determined patience, Huang working layer by layer whenever his health allowed across three years, displaying all the care and kindness required to persevere through such things. “When I started making this record it felt like I might not have it in me to make another one after this,” Huang says, “So I put all of myself in it. I think the process itself gave me strength. It gave me hope in life and music again.”

What emerges is a perhaps surprising subtle EP. One driven by the wisdom delivered in ‘Give it Time’, where impermanence becomes both a comfort and a motivation to create. W. Y. Huang has worked across a variety of genres in his musical career to date, starting with the folk rock of MONSTER CAT and leading through a variety of electronic and dance styles and even more traditional forms. Knots feels informed by every one of these past experiences. For even if they do not make themselves directly apparent within the sound, there’s a confidence present. A fluidity and ease suggestive of an artist who has spent time exploring their tastes and honing their craft. One ready to share something intimate.

The title track ‘Knots’ is indicative of the result. Perhaps the simplest, most hushed on the release, though the one which sits at the heart of the collection and anchors everything else. It’s a song which feels completely intentional in every aspect. Something between a confession and a prayer as voiced in the quiet hours of the night. Pain can so often strip a life to a single, burning point, but ‘Knots’ works against this notion. Reopening the full dimensions of Huang’s existence, unfurling a life beyond the present to include the full breadth of memory, history and hope for what is to come.

Knots is out now and available from the W. Y. Huang Bandcamp page.

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