After 20 years of playing drums in other people’s bands, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Scott J Mason releases his debut solo 7-track e.p. ‘Animal Guilt’ today.

“I’m a chronic over thinker”, says Mason. “So the act of putting these songs out is a milestone in itself, but I’ve spent a lot of time on them and they deserve a proper release”.

All songs were written, recorded and orchestrated at Mason’s home studio and all instruments are played by Mason apart from the string parts, where the ubiquitous talents of violinist, Dave Kahn come in to play.

The e.p.’s songs are tales of adult angst shrouded in epic musical melodies and structures…songs of loss, sorrow, death, love and hope. Most of the tracks were written at a time of inner turmoil for Mason; relationship break downs, a move to Melbourne, unemployment, poverty and a few too many drinks led to a dark period. The resulting recordings possess an inner honesty and purity of expression that is hard to ignore.

Mason, in a better place these days, is currently drumming for electro-pop outfitMulholland and Gareth Thomas and is excited to be working on his next release, a lighter affair influenced by the likes of the Felice Brothers and Gillian Welch.

‘Animal Guilt’ is available for purchase on Bandcamp, Amplifier and all good digital outlets.