Welsh indie artists Secret Postal Society and Guy Challenger have teamed up to create a wonderful little EP titled Embrace The Fear to help raise funds for the UK youth suicide prevention charity PAPYRUS. The EP contains four tracks consisting of two songs – “Embrace” by Guy Challenger and “The Fear” by Secret Postal Society, along with alternate versions of each song recorded by the other artist.

Secret Postal Society is the music project of singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist Craig Mapstone. In addition to being a hard-working and talented musician and songwriter, Craig is also thoughtful, generous and kind, and I’m quite fond of him on both a personal and professional level. He was fairly active in the South Wales music scene, writing songs and playing in various local bands for several years, primarily as a drummer. But like every other musician, when the Covid pandemic hit in 2020 he was stuck at home with a lot of time on his hands, so late that year, he decided to focus on his music. He created Secret Postal Society as his outlet, and challenged himself to write, record and release a new original song for every week of 2021. Amazingly, he achieved his goal, ultimately putting out 53 songs, including two Christmas-themed tracks, along with a video to accompany each single, as well as original artwork for each month’s four-track bundle! (I wrote about this herculean effort here.)

Once that monumental effort was finished, he took over as host of the Welsh Connections Playlist radio show for a couple of years, and along with his friends Mike Kennedy and Kaysha Louvain, created TIWN Media and TIWN PR & Plugging, which also produces and monthly magazine featuring news, reviews and articles about independent artists from Wales and beyond. He now works for Mental Health First Aid Wales and continues to release music as Secret Postal Society, both as a solo act and in collaboration with other artists. His beautiful single “Autumn Leaves” has spent the past three months on my Top 30 chart, and currently sits at #3.

Guy Challenger is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Swansea. Largely inspired by the works of Daniel Johnston, Guy creates sublime, often melancholic acoustic songs touching on issues like emotional well-being and mental health. A prolific artist as well, he’s released a lot of music over the past few years, including a 24-track album Appearances this past December, two EPs earlier in the year, and an album Patina in 2023. As if all that weren’t enough, he also plays drums with Swansea garage rock band The Vandrells.

The first track on the EP is Secret Postal Society’s recording of “Embrace“, which originally appeared on Guy’s 2023 album Patina. This SPS version is languid and atmospheric, with a somewhat melancholy feel, and more than twice as long as Guy’s original. And whereas Guy’s version features primarily acoustic guitar, Craig employs gentle droning synths accompaned by a crisp percussive beat and jangly guitar notes, punctuated with some terrific rock guitar riffs. He injects a few muted shouts at one point into his smooth vocal delivery, which creates a nice bit of tension as he sings “Does everybody feels like this? Does everybody lie with the devil? If everybody feels like this, why don’t we all cry out as one?/ We’re helpless and we’re desperate. But I’ll try to tie all of this together, and embrace the bad weather.”

Guy has also recorded a new version of his wonderful original, which now sounds more vibrant with the addition of what sounds like subtle string synths accompanying his urgently-strummed acoustic guitar. His lovely vocals are filled with emotion as he sings his heartfelt lyrics about letting go of our fears and trying to find some peace of mind amid the chaos.

Secret Postal Society’s “The Fear” was originally released in September 2021 and has been remixed and remastered by Brandon Green, a Texas-based musician and producer he’s collaborated with several times. (Brandon mastered all four tracks on the EP.) His version is a compelling, guitar-driven pop/rock song about the challenges of maintaining honest and open communication in a relationship, expressed in the poignant lyrics: “Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies. I’ll give you the answers in my own time. I thought I was ready, I guess that I was wrong. But nobody’s perfect, just look in their eyes. We all play our part in the great disguise. I wanted to hide, but I found my mask was gone. As I lay here it’s taking me over./ Again I feel the fear building up all around me in here.” Craig is a terrific guitarist, and I love his spirited riffs throughout the track.

Guy reimagines the song in his own acoustic style, giving it a totally different but equally marvelous treatment. His beautiful guitar work, an intricate combination of strumming and finger-picking techniques, is positively sublime. His plaintive vocals nicely convey the wrenching emotions expressed in Craig’s lyrics.

In their press release for the Embrace The Fear, the guys explain: “The overall message of the EP is to follow your heart, listen to the goodness in the world and bloom in adversity by not letting the difficulties of the past stop you from achieving your potential. Embrace those fears, forgive those fears, let those fears go. Then forge ahead stronger, confident and fearless.” I think it’s pretty brilliant how Craig and Guy have combined their two songs into a coherent and relatable narrative, and for a great cause no less!

Embrace The Fear is available for download on Bandcamp through Rushed Records, with 100% of the proceeds going to the charity PAPYRUS, one of the leading youth suicide prevention charities in the UK. Their suicide prevention helpline, HOPELINE274, is staffed by trained suicide prevention advisers, who work with young people – and anybody concerned for a young person – to help keep them safe from suicide.