New Release*
Sleight Of Heart
Pod
INDIE
The captivating 4rd solo album of MALCOLM MIDDLETON (ex ARAB STRAP) ‘Sleight Of Heart', is the next defining statement in Malcolm's journey which he will be flying over to Australia only weeks after it's released to perform live!!! Comprising tracks written during the ‘Brighter Beat' sessions & a handful of cover versions, this CD bookends what Middleton describes as his "boo-hoo / way-hey! period".
Recorded at CHEMIKAL UNDERGROUND's studio in Glasgow with co-producer TONY DOOGAN (MOGWAI, BELLE & SEBASTIAN), & features the talents of numerous luminaries from the Glasgow scene. BARRY BURNS on piano (Mogwai), PAUL SAVAGE on drums (DELGADOS) & JENNY REEVE & STEVIE JONES (touring bassist) on backing vocals (REINDEER SECTION).
There's plenty to cherish in the 9 new tracks here. Opener ‘A Week Off' has the wonderful line "I'll write a good song just give me more time, it's easy hating yourself it's hard making it rhyme," is surely the only tune to name check FLEETWOOD MAC released this year. Elsewhere, ‘Love Comes In Waves' is what Middleton sarcastically describes as "over-blown Glasgow indie-pop", ‘Total Belief' finds Malcolm contemplating his "unworthiness" - a common strand in his solo work - ‘Blue Plastic Bags' is a brilliantly observed song about British drinking culture.
"Surely everyone understands the longing / despair / contentment / self-contempt / confusion in this song," says Malcolm. "As a nation we're all drinking too much. Not the binge drinking of the ‘90s but the sneaky innocent couple every night. If the fridge is empty at 9:30pm, you start sweating and run out to buy some for ‘just in case'."
The covers on the album are fairly unpredictable. Here, a tortured version of MADONNA's ‘Stay' rubs shoulders with a lively take on KING CREOSOTE's ‘Marguerita Red' and JACKSON C. FRANK's ‘Just Like Anything'. ‘Stay' is an old favourite of Middleton's, while ‘Just Like Anything' is beloved by his girlfriend, "So I thought I'd ruin it for her," he says.
Middleton is one of the true originals of our time, in the same lineage of passionate, pained songwriters as LEONARD COHEN, NICK CAVE & ELLIOTT SMITH. Like them, his songs are deeply cathartic, often depressing, but always able to inject humour and dry wit into the darkest facets of the human experience.But Malcolm's is a fragile gift. It all amounts to a captivating record from a man who's fast becoming one of the UK's most cherished - and prolific - artists. "Right now, everything sounds like a fat child throwing a Casio keyboard down a flight of stairs and hitting an old man at the bottom who's playing Verve songs badly on an over-priced guitar," says Malcolm, but then, he's never been one to blow his own trumpet.
|
CD |
PODCD0717 |
$24.95 |
 |
MP3 (320k) Individuals AU$1.69 per track
Hint: You can play a track by clicking the play button on the left of each track. The player controls will load at the top of the page. You can play the whole track, but for licensing reasons it must be played in 30 second slices.
