With its earnest guitar strumming and spaced out instrumentation, the
first track, ‘Trash (Treasure)’ illustrates the kind of EP Psychopath
Etiquette’s ‘Rough Draft’ is going to be: heartfelt, raw and honest.
“She was my treasure, I was her trash” – candid lyrics like these are
hard to come by these days, purely because the storytelling is so
authentic. There’s no pop sheen, masking or hiding behind production
with this EP. On the ‘Rough Draft’s vibey third track, ‘All My Time’,
Psychopath Etiquette croons, “Is it a crime that I want to spend all my
time on you?”, and you can clearly hear the desperation and infatuation
in his voice all at once. Although the vocals and production on ‘Rough
Draft’ help bring out the emotions of each song, it’s the lyrics that
play a key, central role here. “When the darkness hits your heart and
you feel like its falling apart, well I’ll be there when you need me” –
sincere proclamations like these solidify Psychopath Etiquette’s skill
as a songwriter, and more importantly, a human being who’s gone through,
well, life. Perfect for your folk or indie-pop playlist, the ‘Rough
Draft’ EP is a formidable songwriting effort. A little reminiscent of a
more chilled out, folksy Arcade Fire, the title of the EP may be ‘Rough
Draft’, but it’s anything but ‘rough’.