The clarity and high range of the distinctive Hot Chip lead singer returns with his seventh solo LP, packed with personal, candid, philosphofical and sometimes melancholy lyrics allided with bright, melodic leftfield electro-pop, a dash of country, elegant disco-house, and Vangelis-inspired soundscapes, and a title echoing a psychological test where things are not as they seem. One of his most expansive releases to date, it includes several guests including Air’s Nicolas Godin, The Avalanches, Étienne de Crécy, Lola Kirke, Pierre Rousseau (Paradis), Ewan Pearson, Elizabeth White of Pale Blue, Oli Bayston, and Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside. There’s a wistful tone set from on the quiet opener Your Only Life, a reflection on how “lately I feel a sense of remorse / And that's no good for my direction through this life,” followed by the gentle, ambient pop of I Can Feel Love. On the titular theme, the ambiguity of meaning and is captured in lovely standout Out of Phase (with ashville singer Lola Kirke) a hybrid of cosmic pop, NYC garage and country that references two films of the late director David Lynch that truly capture dual realities - Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive. Linked to this, the final track, Black Lodge In The Sky also references the otherworldly venue from Twin Peaks. The beautiful piano ballad, For A Toy, channelling Nilsson, features guest vocals from Elizabeth Wight of US darkwavers Pale Blue, and expressing moving regret shares a lyrical thread with Neil Young’s 90s anthem F*!#In' Up. Another highlight is the delicious crisp, gentle funk of On A Whim with Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside, and packed with sensitivity: “Sometimes, things are too painful / For you to focus on what is real / They pull apart at your life as it turns / And the day to day becomes tender with burns.” Overall, a tender and tentative album, full of yearning, regret, pain, and love but also a breath catharsis and freedom. Out on Night Time Stories.
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