End of Ways is a bridge to healing as it was written during the period of helping a loved one escape an abusive household while working though its lingering horrors to find peace. On this second album release by indie label Kill Rock Stars, 18-year-old Elliott Fullam touches on even darker subject matter than his predecessor What’s Wrong which was a dissociative trip that reached out to thousands of like-minded music enthusiasts who hailed the record as their album of the year. And End of Ways is the next record that will continue in that same gentle melody which alleviates the emotional storm that torments so many of us. Elliott’s sophomore full-length is a blend of home recordings as well as studio recordings which bring some extra depth within the songs to suit their somber settings in the tracks Throw It Away, Forget, and Better Way. But the record still retains its stripped down, lo-fi vibe in songs like Let’s Go Somewhere and Remember When with their clear Elliott Smith and Nick Drake influences in both the acoustic guitar lines and quiet vocals. The addition of young pianist Jeremy Bennett also beautifully adds candle-light melody through-out the album with his haunting notes in the opening song Mistake and his Tim Burton-meets-Vince Guaraldi style in the album’s escapist-themed title track End of Ways along with the dramatic climax to Timeless Tears and the album closer, Over the Moon which is Elliott’s profession of love to his present companion who he saved from her former home. Nick Drake, Big Thief, Crumb, and Alex G that explores childhood, dissociation, heartbreak and ultimately, survival.
