A superb, rapturous swirl of energy, invention, passionate emotions and originality, this debut album by Cameron Picton, the bassist of the acclaimed British experimentalists Black Midi, features shapeshifting structures with a host of acoustic instruments, all originating from a hotel room fever dream of weird imagery and scrambled text. It’s a very striking release, and differently enthralling to the brilliant other solo work of his former frontman bandmate Geordie Greep and 2024’s LP The New Sound. Comprising a full suite of acoustic instruments, from guitar, piano, chamber strings, woodwind and more, and fellow players, many of whom are from the band Caroline, and in particular Kiran Leonard, Caius Williams, Steve Noble, and Andrew Cheetham, it is continually nimble and fleet-footed, and gentler than the full-throttle breathless prog of Black Midi, but one that can still thrill with its speed, interwoven sounds and complexity, scattering and regrouping in structure and sound, with influences ranging from Bert Jansch’s guitar style to Judie Sill panoramic pop. Opener Target Practice is perhaps the only song with a vaguely conventional verse-chorus-type structure, but that’s where the ordinary ends in a swell of revenge-vigilantism and darkly humorous lyrics such as: “You took, took, took till there was nothing left to take / Our dreams, our hopes, our names/ If we see you on a spike with holes for your eyes / We’ll just keep practicing our aim.” The target could any one of several bad actors in a troubled world.
In The Blink Of An Eye and Heart of Darkness carry the infectious energy, the latter with multiple dynamic sections and images of destruction and vivid lyrics such as “Forget the whisper trees, you'll miss the hissing rope”, morphing between folk, jazz, rock, guitar harmonics. Actress is another folk-jazz epic, with softer melodies, and yet more voluminous surges, stop-starts and a petering out ending, having weighed up a friend’s capacity to self-destruct against the vastness of their dreams. Opposite Teacher quietly rages against the fate of becoming just like your parents. The single Love Song is a tender and beautiful tune, capturing the scenario of a now no-longer-romantic couple, perhaps split up but living together, but also a bittersweet declaration of undying love through the profound and the domestic, a prism of potatoes and other food preparation: “You want potatoes or rice tonight? / Pick up some onions/ I’m making dinner.”
After the complexity of the penultimate Actress, the final, eighth track, One Night, is a more of a simple guitar-and-voice song, contrasting with the generally explosive endings of Black Midi albums. Never predictable, and on that note, oddly no inclusion of the excellent recent single Numerology on this LP. Perhaps that’s a sign of huge confidence, and that there’s much more to from this outstanding multi-instrumentalist musician with a wellspring of ideas and originality. Out on Rough Trade.
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