GENRE; Alternative Rock/ Singer-Songwriter Band

RELEASE DATE; 18 January, 2026

RATING; 4/5

From the coastal edges of Newcastle, Mangy Mutt steps forward with The Unresolvable Disillusionment of Matthew David Bowman, an EP that feels more like an emotional excavation than a traditional release. Issued through his own imprint, Mangy Mutt Productions, the project embraces imperfection as principle. Years of poetry and personal hardship form its backbone, shaping songs that don’t chase radio gloss but instead lean into bruised sincerity. Mangy Mutt’s songwriting is steeped in mythic imagery and wry, satirical undertones, yet it’s the stark vulnerability in his delivery that lingers long after the final note fades.

Standout tracks for me are “Old Familiar game” and “Count your Blessings “ On “Old Familiar Game,” Mangy Mutt delivers the haunting line, “The enemy stands at my door. He’s holding the secrets and a whole lot more,”  The lyric lands like a confession whispered in the dark, embodying the EP’s recurring theme of confronting unresolved truths that refuse to stay buried. Meanwhile, “Count Your Blessings” offers one of the record’s most quietly devastating reflections: “Count your blessings before they go away, you may never have them again.” Simple yet piercing, the line distills the EP’s philosophy into a single, resonant warning. It speaks to impermanence, regret, and the fragile nature of grace, reinforcing Mangy Mutt’s gift for wrapping life’s hardest lessons in unvarnished, poetic clarity.

Produced by Gareth Hudson at Hazy Cosmic Jive Studio, the EP finds a compelling balance between atmosphere and abrasion. There’s a cinematic sweep to the arrangements—echoing guitars, shadowed textures, and slow-building intensity, yet nothing feels overworked. The sound remains deliberately frayed, reinforcing Mangy Mutt’s philosophy of documenting life as it is rather than polishing it into something more palatable. The songs unfold like nonlinear memories, fragmented and occasionally disorienting, mirroring the unsettled inner world they seek to portray. It’s storytelling without a safety net, guided by instinct rather than resolution.

What ultimately defines The Unresolvable Disillusionment… is its commitment to emotional truth. Instead of offering redemption arcs or neat conclusions, Mangy Mutt allows tension to sit unresolved. He doesn’t pretend to have deciphered the figure at the center of these narratives; he’s still tracing the outline. That openness transforms the EP into something quietly powerful, a body of work that invites listeners to confront their own unanswered questions. It may not provide comfort, but it delivers clarity of a different kind: the clarity that comes from honesty.

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