"Having recently departed New York City for Buffalo, you can almost hear the
isolation in David Cloyd's debut. Unhand Me, You Fiend! jumps between folky,
Jeff Buckley-esque ballads, minor-key raucous indie-guitar workouts, and, errr,
a Radiohead cover (that's actually quite great!) . . . and it's a joy to listen to."
—Amelia Raitt, eMusic.com
**** (Four Stars) ". . . an almost perfect album. This new talent David Cloyd,
produced by melodic.net favorite Blake Morgan, offers a stylish and at times
complex pop journey. With floating melodies built with acoustic elements
and technical details, [this is] contemporary pop at its very best. Just listen
to the tracks "Give Your Enemies a Chance to Rest" and opening track "Sold
Out Bargain" and you will understand . . . Cool pop in a slightly odd and
very personal style, this is a must album."
—Johan Wippsson , Melodic.net (February 2010)
"Unhand Me, You Fiend! is the debut album from musician David Cloyd. He uses
this album to convey the struggles of everyday life. Cloyd’s voice . . . was very
reminiscent of singers like David Berkeley and Jeff Buckley . . . The lingering
guitar line paired with his voice [in "The First Sign"] made me want to listen to
this song over and over again. The depth and the hollowness of the rhythm
made the song [his cover of Radiohead's "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi"] so much
more enjoyable than the original track . . . when I heard this track for the
first time, the hairs on my arm started to stiffen and stand up on end. This
album is an excellent way to debut and I know I will be looking forward
to future releases from David Cloyd."
—Andrew Randall, TheCelebrityCafe.com (May 2, 2009)
"David Cloyd’s Unhand Me, You Fiend! is the New York City-based
singer/songwriter’s utterly impressive debut, featuring nine originals and
a Radiohead cover, “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.” It’s a pretty potent mixture
of pop and rock, finely crafted and intelligently made. (Listeners may find
out how exactly it was made on the entertaining and informative
commentary track that appears at the end of the album, featuring Cloyd
and producer Blake Morgan.) The often densely layered music has echoes
of the Beatles, Matthew Sweet and Elliott Smith, and stylistically sits
comfortably among the work of contemporaries like Rufus Wainwright,
Duncan Sheik, and Kevin Tihista’s Red Terror. All those comparisons aside,
if there’s a familiarity to Cloyd’s music, it’s the strange way good music, even
music new to your ears, already seems familiar. Unhand Me, My Fiend! has a
hard-edged beauty that makes it one of the first great discoveries of 2009.”
—D. Renville, This Is Just A Modern Rock Blog (February 23, 2009)
"And for Cloyd, all those possibilities finally seem within reach.
He’s been signed to a New York label, Engine Company, and
his first album, Unhand Me, You Fiend!, is scheduled to come
out in January."
—Adam Sternbergh, New York Magazine (August 25, 2008)
isolation in David Cloyd's debut. Unhand Me, You Fiend! jumps between folky,
Jeff Buckley-esque ballads, minor-key raucous indie-guitar workouts, and, errr,
a Radiohead cover (that's actually quite great!) . . . and it's a joy to listen to."
—Amelia Raitt, eMusic.com
**** (Four Stars) ". . . an almost perfect album. This new talent David Cloyd,
produced by melodic.net favorite Blake Morgan, offers a stylish and at times
complex pop journey. With floating melodies built with acoustic elements
and technical details, [this is] contemporary pop at its very best. Just listen
to the tracks "Give Your Enemies a Chance to Rest" and opening track "Sold
Out Bargain" and you will understand . . . Cool pop in a slightly odd and
very personal style, this is a must album."
—Johan Wippsson , Melodic.net (February 2010)
"Unhand Me, You Fiend! is the debut album from musician David Cloyd. He uses
this album to convey the struggles of everyday life. Cloyd’s voice . . . was very
reminiscent of singers like David Berkeley and Jeff Buckley . . . The lingering
guitar line paired with his voice [in "The First Sign"] made me want to listen to
this song over and over again. The depth and the hollowness of the rhythm
made the song [his cover of Radiohead's "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi"] so much
more enjoyable than the original track . . . when I heard this track for the
first time, the hairs on my arm started to stiffen and stand up on end. This
album is an excellent way to debut and I know I will be looking forward
to future releases from David Cloyd."
—Andrew Randall, TheCelebrityCafe.com (May 2, 2009)
"David Cloyd’s Unhand Me, You Fiend! is the New York City-based
singer/songwriter’s utterly impressive debut, featuring nine originals and
a Radiohead cover, “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.” It’s a pretty potent mixture
of pop and rock, finely crafted and intelligently made. (Listeners may find
out how exactly it was made on the entertaining and informative
commentary track that appears at the end of the album, featuring Cloyd
and producer Blake Morgan.) The often densely layered music has echoes
of the Beatles, Matthew Sweet and Elliott Smith, and stylistically sits
comfortably among the work of contemporaries like Rufus Wainwright,
Duncan Sheik, and Kevin Tihista’s Red Terror. All those comparisons aside,
if there’s a familiarity to Cloyd’s music, it’s the strange way good music, even
music new to your ears, already seems familiar. Unhand Me, My Fiend! has a
hard-edged beauty that makes it one of the first great discoveries of 2009.”
—D. Renville, This Is Just A Modern Rock Blog (February 23, 2009)
"And for Cloyd, all those possibilities finally seem within reach.
He’s been signed to a New York label, Engine Company, and
his first album, Unhand Me, You Fiend!, is scheduled to come
out in January."
—Adam Sternbergh, New York Magazine (August 25, 2008)
