Paul Marshall is very busy at the moment. He is preparing
and sending out the many and various items that pledgers all over the world
(including yours truly) have purchased in order to fund the release and
subsequent touring of new Lone Wolf record The
Lovers, a record that he has been slaving over for the past year or so. The
pledge campaign was a clear success with the total set by Marshall being met
with more than 2 months to spare, so it will be interesting to see if The Lovers is equal to this success.
The initial signs are very encouraging. A spooky intro gives
way to ‘Spies In My Heart’, a song that makes a bold statement about the album
as a whole. Gone is the folk sound that pervades previous album The Devil and I: here instead our ears
find DIY percussion (most of which were sounds recorded by Marshall on his
iPhone), a plethora of electronic peaks and troughs, a sound that can be so big
and expansive one minute and then shrinking into itself the next. The guitar
has not been completely abandoned; it acts as a soothing counterbalance to the
thudding drums of ‘The Swan of Meander’ and pops up on the title track,
although here it is overshadowed by a beautiful vocal performance, both
lyrically and in delivery.
The more you delve into this offering, the more there is to
find and delight in. ‘Ghosts of Holloway’ is haunted by the ghost of a long-ago
Depeche Mode sound which adds to the track’s irresistible allure, while ‘Butterfly’
can fool you into thinking that you’re catching some rays during the height of
summer, before you open your eyes and realise that it’s October and bloody
freezing outside. At every turn, this record provides similar moments;
carefully constructed walls of noise that can overwhelm and transport the lucky
listener.
It is hard to see how any pledger could be disappointed with
The Lovers, such is the care and
attention put into it. The album is a fantastic advert for the Pledge campaign
route, showing that the artist can take control of their medium and connect
directly with fans, and Marshall has taken full advantage of this. The
non-pledger release of The Lovers is
on 12th November, and quite frankly you’d be a fool to deny yourself
this 34-minute slice of joy.
8/10
Preorder The Lovers here
No comments:
Post a Comment