‘New Year’ is the lead track from Initial Sketches I, the first release of Fractured Wrist, a new project from an elusive songwriter and producer working somewhere in Scotland’s central belt. Recorded at home on a four-track recorder salvaged from a skip, the unashamed and unprofessional approach to recording imbues the tracks with a distinctly lo-fi warmth. These songs are the soundtracks to the Giallo films that never made it past the cutting room floor. Composed using only guitar, bass and analogue synthesisers, ‘New Year’ evokes enigmatic artists such as Durutti Column and Oneohtrix Point Never, and deliberately forgoes drums and vocals in pursuit of a looser, deconstructed approach. Despite some of the distinctly darkwave sounds on Initial Sketches I, there is an underlying sense of optimism on ‘New Year’, which has a melodic bass line and a series of ethereal synthesiser flourishes informed by the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop. This short release is intended to be the first in a series of Initial Sketches EPs which will all be released digitally and on cassette. With 20 other songs now partially recorded it is anticipated that there will be additional Fractured Wrist releases forthcoming later this year. -Adam Brown