Its been just over three years since I heard Callum Gibson for the first time, opening the night for Penny Mob at Church in Dundee, just a young lad armed only with his acoustic guitar and a powerful singing voice. Since then Callum has gone from strength to strength, just a few months later he released ‘Gaslight‘ which earned its place on Spotify’s ‘Scotify’ playlist, landed airplay on BBC Radio Scotland and caught the attention of many musical critics. After recruiting a full band Callum released debut EP ‘Perceptions‘ in 2024 and spent much of the following year tightening up the live sound as a newly fledged 4 piece.
Now in 2026 Callum kicks off the next chapter of his story with the aptly named EP ‘A Fresh Start‘. ”It’s the first time I’ve ever written something lyrically that ties in thematically,” Callum says about the new release, ”A Fresh Start is about navigating through my early 20’s and in essence, getting back up and going again”. Whilst the musical direction of Perceptions came mostly from Callum, he welcomed the input of his band for this EP giving a more diverse sound across the four tracks.
Opening the EP is ‘Equivocate‘, a track where Callum encourages someone he cares about to share what they’re hiding and stop deflecting to avoid the truth. It’s a song that is fairly mellow through the verses but bursts into life with a powerful chorus followed by an explosive musical break and a slick guitar solo.
Up next is ‘Rain‘ featuring guest vocalist Lindsey Hendry, there’s harmonies and overlapping vocals at different points throughout which gives a very interesting dynamic to this one. According to Callum in an Instagram post, Rain has seen the most love from his fans so far and its not hard to see why when the song gives off Sam Fender & Olivia Dean vibes.
‘Start Afresh‘ is the track chosen as the single for the EP and unsurprisingly given its title, sums up the themes of the EP as a whole pretty well. Drawing lines in the sand, building bridges, Callum laments harsh words exchanged in the past and desires to move forward. It’s perhaps the most traditional indie/ alternative track here and the perfect metaphorical bridge between Perceptions and A Fresh Start.
Closing out the EP is ‘Try on My Shoes‘ which is my personal favourite of the four. It’s a bit more of a low key sound than the rest with a slower build that sets it apart and gives a more experimental feel. Its a bold song and brings an excellent EP to an end.
It’s an exciting time for Callum and his band, this new era has already been quite the rollercoaster for them and there’s much more to come from this talented group. From what I’ve seen from Callum over the years nobody deserves support and success more than he does. Not only is he an excellent singer, songwriter and musician but as a person always takes the time to support his fellow musical artists around Dundee and Scotland as a whole. You can show your support to him by checking out this EP on all major streaming platforms and catching Callum performing live when the band get back out there after a much needed break.
