I have to admit I’m still torn by this album. Sometimes I find it archly affected and contrived. At other times I feel its washes of beauty and emotion pour over me. The sounds are simple and stripped back, but there is considerable attention to detail. Piano, acoustic guitar, banjo, strings, squeezebox, muted brass – you get the picture. But these are all recorded superbly – no lo-fi blur here. Rather, it’s a form of contemporary folk played with skill and nuance. And then Matthew’s voice. Sounding like one of Bowie’s guises, the one that Jarvis Cocker most regularly apes, it’s the one thing on the album most likely to divide opinion. I personally struggle with it, but then find that the supporting music has enough character and strength of its own to not be swamped by the affectation, and the whole is generally successful.
The songwriting is also strong. While ‘Ballad Dear’ suffers from stealing the unmistakable chord progression from Radiohead’s ‘Creep’, others such as ‘Little Bird’, ‘Upside Down’ and ‘Surgery’ have a Beatlesque economy to their melodies and structures which are well served by understated accompaniment. The real highlight is album closer, ‘Market Me To Children’ where the lyrical bite (“As you live and breathe/you will need me/we keep you craving mindlessly”) serves as an excellent counterpoint to the mellow piano and strings – each having the effect of emphasising the other.
It’s a brief listen at just over 35 minutes which, for me, strengthens the album, as I think some aspects could get a bit over the top after an hour or so. The jury in my head is still out, but on reflection I’d have to say that I’m slowly being convinced of the worthiness of the album, a few small apprehensions notwithstanding.
Adrian Elmer
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