The brilliant and self-admitted idiosyncratic Malcolm Middleton’s fifth solo album takes a minor step away from the miserablist folk-style of his preceding work and, on rare occasions in Waxing Gibbous, delves into what can only be described organ-fuelled Caledonian rap, with some slap-bass for good measure.
The name of the album is a reference to the positioning of the moon in which it appears to between full and half-full. It is a metaphorical reply to his sourpuss critics, implying that the proclaimed-cynic’s glass is indeed half-full, not half-empty.
‘Red Travellin’ Socks’ is a buoyant opening track to behold, with Middleton declaring his struggles of being a homesick musician away from his dearest over an upbeat rhythm; it is an initial statement of intent, although fails to materialise further as the album continues. The recognisable somberness that the former Strap is well known for is revived in the beautiful ‘Stop Doing Good’ and ‘Carry Me’, during the latter of which Middleton sings “Everything’s wrong, and it keeps getting worse.”
Former collaborator Jenny Reeve, The Pictish Trail and Kenny Anderson (aka King Creosote) provide Gibbous with beautiful backing vocals which compliment Middleton’s dreach vocals superbly, specifically on ‘Ballad of Fuck All’, while Mogwai’s Barry Burns plays piano throughout the album, offering another dimension to the songwriting that works successfully for the Falkirk songwriter.
The record is most certainly not going to bring the enigmatic Middleton mainstream success, for which he would be undoubtedly pleased at. As explained personally in the press release attached with Gibbous, he wishes for something new, something better than the clearly monotonous repetition of songwriting and recording, and for all Middleton’s admirable talents, on a whole, Waxing Gibbous reflects this apathy. This notion maybe reflects a pre-empted expectation of this release; or Middleton has in fact become disillusioned with his work.