POST CATEGORY : Album of the Week

Album of the Week: Eva Petersen – ‘Emerald Green Eyes’

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Remember The Little Flames? Apart from a couple of great singles the Wirral band are now known best as the band Miles Kane cut his teeth with. But from the ashes of The Little Flames another solo career has emerged, that of Eva Peterson.

Petersen has been proclaimed ‘the greatest singer to come out of Liverpool in the 21st century’ by Will Sergeant of Echo & The Bunnymen (who co-wrote and produced the album). It is a claim not without merit, you will be hard pushed to find a finer voice than hers on Merseyside, or elsewhere. It is from this union that places her debut solo album Emerald Green Eyes, somewhere between post-punk and Northern Soul, as Petersen’s rich soulful voice drifts over Will’s recognizable guitar playing, cinematic tones and spectral synths.

It is this, that makes the record, like opener ‘Jewelled Moon’, ‘Emerald Green Eyes’ and emphatic closer ‘Melody’, familiar yet utterly distinctive. The whole record is glossed with a stylish ’60s lick which aids this air, especially ‘Too Late For Tears’, ‘Don’t Be Shy’, and superb Velvet Underground cover ‘Femme Fatale’. The foray through genres and styles is always secondary, ultimately it’s Petersen’s sultry voice which gives Emerald Green Eyes its star quality.

Petersen’s decision to take her time with this album, and to go in a different direction, has paid dividend. A trim eight songs it may be but Emerald Green Eyes, is a wonderful record of beguiling quality.

Album of the Week: The Pictish Trail – Secret Soundz, Volume 2

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Ever wondered what the greatest album to be recorded in a caravan was? Didn’t think so, but the latest effort from The Pictish Trail, Secret Soundz, Volume 2 has to be the front runner for this, the most unlikely of accolades (if there are others, answers on a postcard please).

Touted as the follow up to 2008’s Secret Soundz, we find The Pictish Trail, the alter ego of Scottish musician Johnny Lynch, in a contemplative, often meloncholic mood, concerned with life’s ups and downs. In contrast, musically Secret Sounds is rather chipper, spurred on by a glorious melange of oddball sounds, sparks of frazzled electronics and instrumental breaks.

Opening with the bright and bouncy, instrumental electro ‘Secret Sounds #6’, this introduction is a bit misleading, it’s with ‘Sequels’ that the album kicks into gear. The oddball sounds and electronics remain but what’s clear is, they are not the focus here. They are but a platform, with Lynch’s wonderful singing voice firmly in the foreground. The premise firmly established, the album gently cascades through folk-influenced balladry and warm electronics of ‘Of Course You Exist’, ‘The Handstand Crowd’ and ‘Michael Rocket’. It is a real bag of tricks but never losing of the balance between curiosity and melancholic it is interspersed with equal doses of both.

Although a sequel, one doesn’t need to need to be acquainted with it’s earlier sibling. As a stand alone record it is magnificent record; warm, inviting and full of charming quirks from an artist of genuine exceptional talent.

Album of the Week: Sam Willis – Winterval

Winterval is the debut solo album from Sam Willis, one half of London-based Walls, and he’s gone and cooked up something rather special. Taking a host of house, techno, minimal and Balearic influences, Willis assimilates these familiar traits into otherworldly electronic music that is not easily defined. Winterval gracefully hovers in an ambiguous hinterland between subtly euphoric and vaguely ambient.

The music is cloaked in a shadowy mystique, flanked by the wispy near silence opener of ‘140 Miles Away’ and eerie closer ‘Twirled With Your Slight Fingers’. Although the more unnerving sides to his sound are maintained throughout, these haunting, atmospheric individual spurts are by no means the pulse of the album. Willis is the master of not missing a beat, sustaining the rhythm and protracting the promise of a euphoric climax, while keeping you captivated through repeated propulsive beats and swirls. None more so than the swirling synth and deep drones of ‘Weird Science’, the twinkling crystalline grandeur of ‘Fox Glissando’ and the spectacular ‘Frozen-Cirrus’.

Chiming notes resonate through every track and the beats are delivered with pin point accuracy. Willis has mixed the warm sounds with a crisp frosty elegance, creating a hypnotic, comforting sound collage. It is no way an exaggeration to say not only is Winterval one of the finest records of 2012, it is one of the most aesthetically complete electronic albums for quite some time.

Album of the Week: Stealing Sheep – Into The Diamond Sun

It’s difficult to know where to begin with Stealing Sheep but eclectic would be a good start. The Liverpool trio’s debut album Into The Diamond Sun is a heady cocktail of sounds, rather than been a scattered or confused, it is neatly sown together with layer upon layer of harmonies and a splendid array of psychedelic folk influences.

Into The Diamond Sun manages a perfect balance between the catchy and the interesting. Everything thing about their folk-tinged pop revolves around their vocal arrangements and the wonderfully dreamy three part harmonies, which are simply sublime. The album flows very nicely, peppered with electronic drones, hand claps and lavish guitar effects; it is these experimental eccentricities which embellish the record.

It feels both spooky yet somewhat uplifting, from the meandering ‘Circles’, ‘Gold’ and ‘Shark Song’, to the touch more lively ‘Genevieve’ and ‘Liven Up’. It is all crafted with a deft touch, like intricate brush strokes coming together to create a wonderful portrait. Lyrically too, Into The Diamond Sun is a just as colourful patchwork of vivid imagery.

Into The Diamond Sun is instantly lovable, in fact, it is utterly contagious. All in, a superb first effort.

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Album of the Week: Knoxville Morning – Knoxville Morning

So, yeah, on the surface the idea of a young man from Newbridge spinning yarns about Austin, New York and New Orleans may sound a bit mmeh. For Ciaran Dwyer, chief songwriter in Band On An Island, it wields a far greater reward than one might expect.

A trip across the US left Dwyer with a collection of songs and stories, of a distinctly different varietyto those of BOAI, and so Knoxville Morning was born. Under this new alias, with Dwyer at the helm, he is joined by fellow BOAI members and the likes of The Mighty Stef, Gavin Elsted (We Are Losers), Brian Gallagher (Humanzi), Stephen Fahey (Super Extra Bonus Party) and Claire Prendergast.

The record amounts to a sweet blend of folk, country and Americana, and while it wears it’s US influences on it’s sleeve, Ciaran’s intuitive storytelling remains a cornerstone, for which the whole album is built on. It flows nicely, without a stale moment, peppered with illuminating trumpets on ‘Knoxville Morning’, ‘Tulsa (m.o.e.)’ and ‘Trumpets’. It is lifted here and there with an added vocal collaboration, especially on the beautifully soulful duet with Prendegast on ‘Baseball Song’, and ‘Alphabet City’ with The Mighty Stef. The album is tainted with an underlying air of mournfulness, not sadness mind, but a lamenting for better days and happier times long since gone. Something everyone can identify with.

Plenty of artists have attempted a project like this, many of which veer on the ridiculous, while some, like The Lost Brothers or Fionn Regan (specifically his second album Shadow of The Empire) found that perfect balance. Knoxville Morning like the latter two is a success, and without a cliche in sight. Knoxville Morning wears it’s heart on it’s sleeve and it maybe shouldn’t work, but it does, and remarkably well too, which is a credit to Dwyer and all involved.

Album of the Week: Imploded View – Picnics With Pylons

Picnics With Pylons is the debut album from Longford based producer Imploded View (aka Jerome McCormick), whose forte till now has been atmospheric downtempo electronic music, and he’s sticking to the script with his debut record.

Picnics With Pylons rarely if ever, emerges from first gear, preferring to meander through a vast and cloudy world of extremely chilled ambient sounds. An air of calmness permeates the entire record from openers ‘Astral Airways’ and ‘Can Drift Would Drift’ right through to ‘Dark Is The Light’, the album moves at it’s own pace. McCormick is certainly comfortable in this skin, he seems at peace, a feeling transposed to the listener as the airy productions wash over you with an ease, slowly and subliminally seeping into the listener’s mind. It all allows time for delicate detail, added emotional depth and mood and thought provoking atmospherics.

It is very much an after-hours record and feels very nocturnal but it does slink in a brighter direction with title track ‘Picnics With Pylons’ and ‘We Ivy’; rare glimmers of sunshine and optimism in an otherwise foggy downbeat world. The focus here is on creating moods, sound textures and ambient instrumentals.

Picnics With Pylons is an assured and composed debut with genuinely well thought out moments of ambience that make for an enjoyable listen. Imploded View is not a name many will be overly familiar with but hopefully this record goes someway to changing that.

Album of the Week: Nathan Conway & The River Valley Band – Sonny Boy

Sometimes we can all be a little guilty of preoccupying ourselves with seeking the next big innovation in music. Yet, by and large, most things in music tend to be borrowed from the past, and baring that in mind, we are left with music that’s either good or bad – surely that’s all that really matters at the end of day.

Nathan Conway & The River Valley Band certainly borrow from the past to create a timeless soulful country sound. Having teamed up with The River Valley Band after releasing Run on Diesel with The Bottlestoppers in 2011, Conway & Co. have found their niche. The tone is soulful country, set to overarching themes of demise and redemption, draped in Conway’s intuitive storytelling which paints vivid pictures with his words.

Mostly you feel that Conway and band are really working together, from the swinging, uptempo ‘Where’s the Love in My Heart’ and ‘It’ll All Come Back On Me, Someday’ to the less blustery, slower numbers ‘Song from the Engine of the Model T’ and ‘Lord I Got it Bad’ or ‘Freckles’. They have a rapport with one another; brass, percussion strings and Conway’s deep bellowed croon, all work in perfect tandem.

Sonny Boy requires a degree of patience, understanding and repeated listens to be fully appreciated. It is a beautiful, timeless and assured album. You can tell from the get go that the musicians know exactly what they’re doing. There might not be anything else like this around at the moment which only adds further measure to what they have achieved here.

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Album of the Week: Cian Ciaran – ‘Outside In’

For nearly two decades Cian Ciaran has been brightening our lives as Super Furry Animals’ resident electronic wizard and keyboardist. Outside In sees Ciaran come to the fore with a debut solo record under his own name.

It will come as quite a surprise anyone expecting an electronica album, but Outside In is a record indebted to grandious orchestral pop of the ’60s and John Lennon’s ’70s output. The record is a mix of down-tempo orchestral ballads of beguiling beauty and that idiosyncratic Super Furry sparkle.

Centered around his piano and subtle drumbeats, it swoons and sweeps, dripping with melody and harmony, allowing his wonderful lilting croon to blossom. It is permeated too, by an air of elegant richness, comforting tranquility and a hint of melancholy.

Album opener ‘You & Me’ epitomizes the fabric of Outside In; a blend of truly beautiful textures, swooning strings, elegant sounds and whispering lyrical laments for lost ideals. It seldom deviates from it’s course say for ‘Martina Franca’, which wouldn’t be out of place on an SFA release and the album closers ‘What Will Be’ and ‘Upside Downers’. Two positively exuberant tracks, imbued with joy and filled an array of horns and strings.

Outside In is a charming album that will warm the heart of anyone willing to give it the time it thoroughly deserves.