From wry, peppy alt-rock to sludgy grunge pop, on the second Blood Wizard full length, the London-via-Nottingham artist feels more assured and succinct than ever.

The grind doesn’t seem to stop for Cai Burns, the man at the creative helm of Blood Wizard. From his school-days pursuits in acclaimed Nottingham alt-rock group Kagoule, to participation in other emerging projects such as the decidedly dusky avant-garde London quintet pencil, his roots have continued to burrow deep into the fertile soil of the musical underground. ‘Grinning William’ is the newest album under the Blood Wizard moniker, said to be his most collaborative effort thus far as it draws more from the wisdoms of his bandmates under Theo Verney’s production wizardry (credited with producing the likes of English Teacher, Lime Garden and Egyptian Blue). Releasing via London’s sad club records, the record feels like a culmination of the artistic growth that Burns’ prolificity as a musician has facilitated up to this point.

A work that leans significantly further into pop sensibilities than his previous output, though its toes are still dipped in the somewhat asperous waters of the alternative, ‘Grinning William’ lopes through a range of different stylistic frameworks throughout its 30 minutes. With each track’s accessible singalong quality and Burns’ distinctly lucent lyrical style, the resulting product remains wholly cohesive despite this surface-level eclecticism.

At first reminiscent of 2021 debut ‘Western Spaghetti’, album opener ‘Sciencefiction’ makes time to dabble in the delicately acoustic indie-folk noodlings of said predecessor, but this introduction gives little indication to the broader compositional shapes and colours that emerge further up ahead. Quickly pivoting to a softer-edged grungy downtempo sound, eponymous follow up ‘Grinning William’ carries all the hallmarks of a sad banger, enlisting the pristine, collected vocal complements of keyboardist Faye Robinson on perhaps the most melancholy offering of this collection, and starkest example of these notable aesthetic contrasts.

Therewith, a certain pace is established, and much like the record’s strikingly gory-but-fun album cover,  Burns’ sense of playfulness and flair dribbles in a winning rouge from the droll grinning teeth of each track as he saunters commandingly onwards, a skip in his figurative step. At points, a twangy, roguish attitude prevails, as on ‘Higher Energy’ and ‘Apple + Oranges’, two tracks with comparable guitar riffs that might, to some, recall a touch of ‘My Iron Lung’ era Radiohead. Other times, catharsis and reflection take the reins, in places such as ‘babytooth’, the slower midpoint number and first single that Burns describes as “a call to my inner child to stick around a bit longer”.

Lyrically, Burns’ writing style maintains a touch of dry humour, but is clear-cut and open, and moments of poignancy often seep through. On ‘Indecision’, he sings, ”While we try to take some time to be ourselves, who cares what’s out there happening? We’re here at home, dancing”. The track is cushioned by synths, abounding with cloudy, candyfloss-tinted fuzz, as Burns mulls over the joy and sense of self that giving yourself space can elicit. ‘BIG FISH’, a tromping, off-kilter swashbuckler of grizzly, masticating guitars is the standout single of the album. It tackles the idea of finding closure in a tumultuous life-changing period and manages to do so with exactly the bite that it refers to: “I thought I was big fish, Turns out I was bait, I thought I was eating, But now I’m on the plate”. Ouch.

Showcasing the greatest range and confidence in his songwriting abilities to date, on ‘Grinning William’, Blood Wizard’s penchant for whipping up an earworm within the confines of 3 minute-or-less yields an album that packs an almighty punch, brimming with character and zingy charm. Burns is an artist who simply won’t stop making music until he’s cracked the nut, and boy is he getting close.