So here it is, the hotly anticipated second album from David MacGregor, again under the Broken Chanter moniker.
Produced at Chem19 by the legend that is Paul Savage, MacG has enlisted a slightly different cohort of musicians from his self-titled debut to record this (Jill O’Sullivan on violin/vocals, Graeme Smillie on bass, and Bart Owl, Man of the Minch, and Gill Higgins on other duties), but the incomparable Audrey Tait remains on the drumstool (although she has now taken on Franz Ferdinand duties await, and congratulations are due…).
BM has previously reviewed one of these 10 new tracks, the first single ‘Extinction Event Souvenir T-Shirt’ but genuinely did not know what else to expect. This is a substantial piece of work which will take some digesting, as all of MacG’s songs over the years have been growers, so apologies if this is just a first impression – however the message needs to be spread about how good this is!
On this second release MacG has become more confident, just letting the music take over, and this is very apparent on second single and first track ‘Dancing Skeletons’. With an intro of birdsong, the song summons up frustration at the everyday, phrases like “Smash my TV”, and the idea of “clearing everything” channels lockdown with the classic line “the cat’s on the table again”, (no pussy jokes here) and gives vent to some extraordinary guitar thrash, along with Audrey’s incredible drums… Phew!
And that’s just the first track! Track two is lengthier and invokes a wee bit of pomp-era Idlewild, still probably the easiest musical comparison (ok, some others including WWPJ and Biffy) but The Chanter update some of these tropes – “caught in the background of someone’s photograph” is not a phrase one would expect in an elegiac piece – and again the guitar solos (several) are quite unbelievable, and “too many missed calls on a fractured phone” surely must be up for lyrical phrase of the year…. And who is doing the female backing vocals, BM can’t quite remember (probably Gill) but this track is truly immense…
Track three is ‘Ith Lan Do Bhith’ – which is in Gaelic – BM does not speak the language (although knows a few choice phrases) but MacG is learning the language and this is another thundering track which uses drum patterns to their full effect – along with spoken word…
‘So Long (I’m Not Around)’ was introduced at MacG’s recent solo gig at the Glad Cafe as the first song title he has used brackets for – that is as maybe, but it is an understated anthem, referring to ‘Intrusive Thoughts’ but also invoking people to “come down”… and “tell my friends” – the melody may be a retread of something (but BM is racking the brains regarding what) – it appears to be a skewed call to action…
Fifth track ‘Filaments’ is a more back-to-basics song, with some great harmony vocals, while next up, ‘A Sad Display’ is acoustic, reflective and with some witty asides… “Fresh hell” indeed! There is an unexpected end to the track however, with a big chorus…
The previous single ‘Extinction Event Souvenir T-Shirt’ seems very apposite at this point in time, “billionaire rocketmen”, “can’t skip the adverts” and the call of “hold onto your friends” is good advice – BM can’t help thinking of The The’s early 90s albums, for some reason – maybe the guitar playing actually, so MacG should take that as a compliment, but seriously this was and is a huge track, best attempt to capture the zeitgeist of the year (first time that BM has ever used that word in a review, always a first time for being pretentious…)
‘Horse Island’ is a lovely folkish song (but still with these butting drums) invoking simpler places but putting them in broader context…
‘Fast Food, Parked Car’ begins with ambient sound but the guitar echo builds up – it is a song of the city, with treated vocals (very good!) and a very angsty vibe….it is maybe the most retrospective track on the album, ie back to some Kid Canaveral tracks of the past….
Last track is another Gaelic title, ‘Rubha Alainn’, which starts at a slow tempo but again builds up to those beautiful minor chord changes that MacG is so good at, and the full band effect is really quite something – is it a riposte to one of the previous tracks, or a summation of the whole mood, who knows, there are no vocals but it sounds truly magnificent…
BM had high hopes for this album but flipping heck Broken Chanter have surpassed these expectations – this has to be contender for album of the year 2021…