“Deep Routed,” the lead single off Ezra Williams’ debut album “Supernumeraries”, is a lovely, tender folk-pop track about overcoming a fear of intimacy at the genesis of a relationship—with Williams transcribing their own perspective as an autistic person tasked with navigating social cues and attitude shifts while dating. “Something’s stopping me / Something’s shutting my mouth / Every time you say things first / I say them back, but it doesn’t count,” they sing atop an acoustic strum that quickly pales beneath a tranquil electric riff. When they unravel in the song’s breakdown, questioning “Is this how it is? / Is this who I am?” in a layered vocal with their collaborator GHRIAN, something clicked.
It was clear to me that this artist—who, by the age of 18, had already racked up over 5-million streams across 92 countries—was not just generational, but here to stay. Williams has gifted us a collection of 12 songs that surf between the soft and heavy. “Supernumeraries” is a collage of different genres and experiments, ranging from delicate synth-pop to singer/songwriter alt-rock. Songs like “Skin” and “Bleed” and “Don’t Wake Me Up” are visceral thematically but lush, daunting and fallible.
“Supernumeraries” is a stark portrait of candid, blunt reflections; an album that will endure long after we’re all gone
The Fat Angel Sings 