MAYBE there’s something different in the water in Bangi, Selangor. And perhaps you need to live outside the tree-lined suburbs of Kuala Lumpur’s choice addresses to get a little soul and grit in the music. By far, it’s been a long time since a folk-styled artiste made an impression, but introspective troubadour Azmyl Yunor’s self-funded Tenets EP, his first solo CD outing, is possibly the biggest revelation since Meor’s soul-stirring Itu Padang ... Aku di Sini album to hit the homegrown singer-songwriter circuit.

Be it the ghosts of the early dawn or the sound of naked expression, this strain of confessional music has never been this haunting in the hands of a local indie singer-songwriter. But Azmyl’s brilliantly sloppy and dishevelled laments seem to strike a chord throughout this five-track EP, clocking over 20 minutes of raw emotion (a caustic Malay live track is hidden in the mix).

This EP, presumably recorded on a tight budget and co-produced by Ronnie Khoo (the Malaysian equivalent of indie sonic genius Jim O’Rourke), carries through with profound, emotional impact. And that signature cigarette burn on the CD cover is a nice touch.

Back to the music, Azmyl’s is a cracked, nicotine-tarred voice that is indebted to an odd array of influences from early Dylan to American lo-fi notables Lou Barlow, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Love is Hell-era Ryan Adams.

Some suggest that it takes a gawky kind of adolescence to realise these tunes’ disturbing undercurrent, but Azmyl’s lyrical grit cuts across. By mixing up outsider tales, heartfelt angst and lonesome kick-abouts, it’s hardly unimaginable not to connect with the rage that fuels Azmyl’s work. From the desolate and restless Bone Dry (how can you fault a verse that goes “I won’t even try to drink the water that reflects my own face”), down to the personal anguish of The Taps in My Shackled Home (are Leakin’) and the pleasure drug of a tune Serotonin Blues, you’d be hard-pressed to find another soulfully shredded local indie singer-songwriter of such conviction and nerve.