With delightful echoes of the The Jam, The Kinks, The Bees, Small Faces and other classic 60s pop and mod influences, the Blur guitarist’s resurfaced and unreleased solo LP was actually recorded in 2011 at the time of his 2012 album A+E, and made with producer Ben Hillier. Different in tone to that other more frenzied and punk album, Castle Park got put aside for Blur commitments of an album and tour, and Coxon finally releases it heralding a years of his nine solo LP reissues. Likeable, charming, whistle-along and catchy, it has a warm, nostalgic flavour, the title named after a place from his Colchester childhood. The Jam-like opener Billy Says is inspired by the classic 1960s British film Billy Liar, capturing the twists of the lead character who gets into scrapes from fibbing, including having two girlfriends. Alright is a beautiful, ,gentle whistle-along, while the gentle avenging When You Find Out goes into 60s garage rock with a touch of the Hollies. Isn’t It Funny has a slow, spooky, jazz swing, cinematic charm with a dash of Scott Walker panache, There’s a Little House is a call-and-repeat love melancholy number with Lucy Parnell, Easy is a slow ode to love’s strength, Dripping Soul has echoes of Ennio Morricone and a galloping, clattering spaghetti western, Mélodie Pour Christine is a delicate fusion of harp and chamber strings, harking back to some late Beatles and baroque pop, Dripping Soul, and closer All The Rage ends in a woozy sense of ironic whimsy. Great to finally hear and enjoy this 15 years. It was worth the wait. Out on Transgressive Records.
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