Mr Kinski's Music Shack

Lost Worker Bee is a new EP release from Elbow, recorded to “…tide fans over until the next album.” Often EP’s contain fillers, such as remixes or alt takes, but that’s not the case here. Lost Worker Bee is formed of four new songs that would not sound out of place on any previous Elbow album.

There is a sense of mystery around the EP, with little in the way of information online, other than a few short quotes from Guy Garvey informing us that the songs are all set in Manchester and that the band are proud of the EP.

In these days of information overload, its a pleasure being able to listen to new music and use your imagination to try and figure out the meaning and influences behind songs.

Powered by urgent, jittery percussion, the title track from the EP twists and turns over Guy Harvey’s searching vocal. A Baba O’Riley referencing synth line runs through the middle section of the most musically adventurous track on this release.

“Searching the earth like a lost worker bee”

The instrumentation on Lost Worker Bee, especially the trumpets, conveys a feel of the past and also places the song in a clear northern setting.

“I know that somewhere a hard drinking girl
With kindness in reservoir looks to the sea”

My favourite track on the EP,  And It Snowed reminds me a little of Bell X1, especially the piano and bass interplay. The simple, un-fussy arrangement give the lyrics an opportunity to shine through.

“You’ve done your leaving
Livid in your splendour and alone”

I love the way the music drops back to just drums and guitar midway through the song, which gives the feeling of the quietness that follows heavy snowfall.

Roll Call is the longest track on this release and powers along at a fair old pace. A chugging twin rhythm guitar line is a highlight of this song, with Guy singing about “a kid in a bath tub” and what seems to be a song of the city, offering short glimpses into the little stories that pop into view as you speed by on the 6 and a half minute journey through the track.

photo credit: tom sheehan

Usually Bright ends the EP at a slower pace. A stripped back acoustic arrangement, lightly played piano, guitar and bass provides the backdrop as Guy sings of the “Hotel in my hometown, The saddest room I ever woke in.”

The song ends abruptly as soon as the lyrics end, bringing this short EP to a close. A new Elbow album may be a while off, so I hope we are treated to another taste of new music from the band soon, either in the form of a another new EP or a single. But until then, enjoy the Lost Worker Bee EP.

Buy the Lost Worker Bee EP (MP3) on Amazon UK

Culture of Volume, the second album from East India Youth, opens with The Juddering, an instrumental that starts off spitting out a synth- line reminiscent of Bowie’s title track to Station to Station, before the big synths take over.

Culture of Volume is not an instrumental album, the majority of the tracks feature vocal performances, the first of which, End Result, sneaks in some Duran Duran sounding synth flavours, and displays an intelligent, expansive arrangement.

Beaming White, though driven by mid-80’s sounding synths in the intro, has a feel of Delphic‘s Acolyte album. And that’s a key point with this album – William Doyle (aka East India Youth) is clearly influenced by the 80’s sounds of Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Ryuichi Sakamoto, John Foxx and Soft Cell but he writes songs that are contemporary, with vocals more inspired by Wild Beasts and Everything Everything than his apparent 80s influences.

Hearts That Never is one of the more up-tempo pieces, with a great bass-line and rolling percussion. The hands-in-the-air anthem Entirety is lifted by the sweet keyboard lines towards the middle of the pacey, at times industrial track.

The stand-out song for me is Carousel, which has shades of The Garden era John Foxx, and a real 1980’s 4AD feel in the use of long, spacey reverbs. Beatless and beautiful, it’s a moving piece of music, especially the slowly distorting outro, which has a little of the feel of The Disintegration Loops by William Basinski.

The straight-forward pop of Don’t Look Backwards has a dreamy treated piano and strings ending, which plays perfectly into my second favourite track, the 10 minute plus Manner of Words. Slow-burning textured pads and lead lines give way to disintegration and decay.

The album closes with Montage Resolution, another instrumental soundscape built from layers of jagged reverb-heavy lines underpinned by a deep synth.

This is the first music I’ve heard from East India Youth, and its piqued my interest enough to seek out their debut album, Total Strife Forever.

Buy Culture of Volume CD or download on Amazon

Buy Total Strife Forever on CD or download at Amazon

So you’ve not heard the second solo album from The Mission singer-songwriter, Wayne Hussey. What would you expect to hear? The sound of an artist trying to re-create the “glory years” or an album drenched in 80s goth nostalgia?

What about one of the albums of the year, full of moving vocal performances, a real variety of styles, and an album that sound’s nothing like his “day-job” in The Mission?

It’s the latter you will actually hear. I’m not a fan of The Sisters of Mercy or many of the so-called “goth” groups from that era. But goth didn’t pass me totally by without digging it’s talons into my heart and leaving me with the love of some of the bands such as All About Eve and song’s such as The Mission’s Tower of Strength, Severina and the beautiful Butterfly on a Wheel, so I was curious as to what a Hussey solo album in 2014 might sound like.

If you put aside any preconceptions, you might discover that Songs Of Candlelight & Razorblades is an excellent album. The album opener is a brave choice – Madam G is a lovely, infectious torch-song, with a subtle late-night arrangement, and was co-written with former All About Eve singer-songwriter, Julianne Regan. Don’t take my word for it, have a listen yourself on the Spotify link below.

Nothing Left Between Us is a slowly building song chronicling a decaying relationship.

“Why are we still holding on, to something that’s already gone”

You Are Not Alone has a Laurel Canyon feel, with a touch of Led Zeppelin thrown in for good measure.

The Bouquets & the Bows is the highlight of the album for me, mainly due to the powerful vocal performance. I love the ending of this song, with the acoustic bass intertwining the piano riff as the song drifts away.

Wither on the Vine musically seems to reference The Cure from around the A Forest era, with the drum and guitar sound. A song calling for tolerance, this track is the one that would likely appeal to fans of Hussey’s earlier work.

I’m reminded a little of This Mortal Coil when listening to No Earthly Cure. A fine chorus tops this wonderful song.

The sequencing of the album works really well – ‘Til the End of Time continues the pace of the previous songs, then winds down with an acoustic breakdown as the swampy Devil’s Kind romps in and turns up the tempo.

When I Drift Too Far from Shore is a string-driven, Bowie-esque piece, whilst Next Station references a Bowie song in it’s lyrics (and possibly in the the song title too).

The album closes on the spoken word Aporia, which touches on some of the problems of the current human condition (racism, homophobia) and what’s that I hear, Bauhaus‘s Peter Murphy on backing vocals?

To quote Aporia – “ignorance just ain’t no defence”. I’ve told you how good this album is, have a listen on Spotify and if you like what you hear, support the artist and buy the CD.

Buy Hussey – Songs Of Candlelight & Razorblades on Amazon UK

Buy The Mission – The Brightest Light (2 CD) on Amazon UK

Buy The Mission – Anthology – The Phonogram Years (2CD) on Amazon UK