Since the emergence of ‘Trust’ only three months ago, we have been drip-fed cryptic quotes,phrases and lyrics through the Gambles website and Facebook.

Albeit no substitute for new music, what a tease this practice has turned out to be. Gambles, or New Yorker Matthew Daniel Siskin, has been attracting a lot of attention since uploading the stripped back guitar and vocal style ‘Trust’- a sincere and evocative track that exposes the raw song writing abilities of Gambles – and stringing us along with the somewhat anti-climatic but nonetheless interesting open-diary website has made his next move a hotly anticipated one. But, alas, we were treated to some new music this month and, crikey, it’s a bit good isn’t it?

‘Safe Side’ offers the same beautifully haunting qualities that are present in ‘Trust’ and multiplies them. Yet more commanding, yet more powerful; Gambles airs some intensely unnerving lyrics (“There is no safe side, wherever I stand I damage”) over fiercely strummed chords. The end product is an affecting slice of dark, primitive song writing.

Having just completed a US tour with The Maccabees, we’re hoping that downtime from the road will allow for more new songs to appear. But until then, it seems we’ll all have to make do with the tour stories, photos and lyrics in the world of GMBLS.com. But amongst the nods to Leonard Cohen (have a listen to the brilliant cover of ‘One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong’ below) and his tendency to post absurd yet thoroughly intriguing posts online, there is something wholly captivating about Gambles.