Cork-based band Wroutes released their debut EP ‘Ambulant’ at the beginning of December. Touting it as an indie alternative recording, Wroutes have quickly established themselves as future big players in the genre.

Closing track Capricious is aptly titled, with the track almost coming in three movements. MIDI strings take cues from Daughter, and vocalist Anthony Madden is unflinching, yet delicate in delivery. While the song’s intro lacks the same structure that the rest of the track boasts, overall it’s a somber, easy listen, telling of broken promises.

In past lives, band members Emmet Ahern, Craig Victory and the aforementioned Madden were all previously members of various hardcore bands. Admittedly though, it’s hard to hear any of that influence coming through on this release. Not that that’s by any means a bad thing – Eyes sees the band deliver stunning, albeit simple harmonies. Vocally, Madden is sharper than ever here, scrambling in the dark for a familiar face.

Grow is lifted by sweet intertwining string melodies. With stronger supporting percussion, this song has the potential to be an anthemic romp. Mind, follows the Bon Iver method of seemingly pouring your heart and soul out into a song until it coats every instrumental component of the song with sadness. As grim as it sounds, this doesn’t make Mind a hard listen – rather, a comfortingly honest one.

When speaking about ‘Ambulant’, Wroutes said that it was “the most professional thing we’ve done”, and that’s abundantly clear from the first listen. The four track EP has been produced within an inch of its life, leaving a quadrant of extremely slick, polished acoustic tracks. It will be interesting to see how they follow this up, and whether they see fit to incorporate more percussion into future releases.