“When was the last time you heard a concept EP that drew on the depths and breadth of musicality to communicate a story with total vulnerability?” That’s the question James Percival poses, and with Curtains Closed, he delivers a powerful answer. This is not just another indie release—it’s an intimate, emotionally raw, and musically expansive body of work that draws listeners into a deeply personal journey of loss, distance, and healing.
Hailing from Birmingham, England, Percival brings his eclectic influences—ranging from Lewis Capaldi and Fontaines D.C. to Tigran Hamasyan and Bon Iver—into a cohesive yet genre-defying EP. Curtains Closed, released on April 25th, 2025, is an original and brave offering that chronicles the artist’s struggle to process his sister’s ongoing health decline due to Long-Covid. Through this six-track narrative, James opens a vulnerable window into a family crisis that many listeners will find heartbreakingly relatable.
At its heart, Curtains Closed is a concept EP. But unlike most concept records, it doesn’t just string together lyrics under a theme. It uses every tool at James’s disposal—melody, harmony, rhythm, space, silence, and even reverb—as emotional brushstrokes. The result is a sonic landscape that doesn’t just tell a story; it feels it.
The title track, “Curtains Closed”, is the EP’s emotional centerpiece and arguably James’s most accomplished song to date. Written in just a week, it captures the raw immediacy of emotional grief while still being musically sophisticated. It incorporates unexpected metre changes, found sounds, and subtle harmonic shifts—all hallmarks of James’s distinctive style—but nothing ever feels forced. The experimental elements never overshadow the message; they support it.
In contrast, “Disembodied” throws the listener into a psychedelic, wordless soundscape. By this point in the EP, lyrics have served their purpose, and the music speaks on its own. With a quintuplet polyrhythm performed live and unquantised, and instruments interacting like characters in a surreal dream, this track offers a transcendental experience. Think Jacob Collier meets post-rock, with an emotional weight that makes every bar feel intentional.
Much of the recording took place in James’s childhood home—underneath the very bedroom where his sister once slept. This setting isn’t just symbolic; it seeps into the tracks. The upright piano used throughout is slightly out of tune, adding a natural imperfection that matches the emotional turbulence within the songs. On track five, even the reverb becomes its own instrument—dragging and colliding with overtones to create moments of chaos that perfectly mirror the turmoil of the story.
This EP doesn’t just push musical boundaries; it redefines them in subtle, emotional ways.
While James wrote all the music and lyrics, he also surrounded himself with key contributors who elevate the project. Saxophonist Reuben Selby returns for another collaboration, delivering a solo on “What am I supposed to feel?” that is both melodic and devastating. Drummer Ethan Williams brings intricate polyrhythms to life on “Disembodied”, while guitarist Oren Velasquez Hirtenstein’s solo work on track three gives the EP a powerful rock edge without disrupting its flow.
Each artist adds to James’s vision without taking away from the singular voice at the center of the story.
James Percival isn’t interested in fitting into boxes. He says it best himself: “In a world that demands that albums and EPs must be musically unified in the same sound and genre, I choose to be different. Not because I think I am better than anyone else but because I cannot write any other way.” That philosophy runs through every second of Curtains Closed. The EP doesn’t pretend to be neat or polished. It’s real. It’s jagged in all the ways grief can be.
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