With the release of the single "Play Me A Christmas Song", Stephen Dowd manages to bottle the very specific, blue-hued silence that falls over a living room once the wrapping paper has been cleared away. It is a curious thing, really, how a melody can act less like a sound wave and more like the smell of a candle that was blown out five...

Apex4X. Right, let's dive in. "The Fire Within", an album with thirteen tracks; feels like peering into someone's journal, but one that's written in neon ink and scrawled across a storm-ridden sky. It’s not a straight path, this emotional rollercoaster, more like a particularly scenic, but also slightly terrifying, cliffside drive. The whole thing drips with this fascinating paradox - personal pain delivered with...