Paul Research, originally guitarist in Edinburgh postpunk legends Scars, released an astounding album ‘Skate the Royal Mile‘ last year, and this is the follow-up.
Again using guest vocalists, this cements his reputation as one of Scotland’s leading musical auteurs, taking influences from indie, musicals and even opera at times.
The first of the five tracks here, ‘Twist of the Night’ leads us into a miasma of guitar effects, brass and god know what else – it sounds even better when Leeloo’s vocal kicks in, building around squalling guitar effects but crystal clear (and all these tracks are immaculately produced) – the lyrical subject skates around, referencing abandoned properties, and other themes of dereliction… A total banger, as they say these days…but with real depth…
Next up is ‘Christiana’ starts with keyboards, and the distinctive and quite operatic voice of James – it goes at a waltz type pace but after the drum and bass kick in it begins to sound like a distant relative of Ultravox’s ‘Vienna’ but even classier – it is also in its own way a complete banger… BM is breathless…
‘Balancing Act’ sounds more upbeat in some ways, with funky bass and drum patterns – regular vocalist Carrie Furniss acquits herself very well in the Barry Adamson-esque melodrama (and BM is a massive BA fan, there is no better praise…) – the vocal and the backing track is just marvellous, hard to pin out down beyond what BM has already said, just something that could fit on any soundtrack where a dark theme is required, but also amazingly melodic – this is one of the best things BM has heard so far this year, but then it was expected to be!
Penultimate tune ‘The Silent Treatment’ starts as a piano track, and a great one at that, BM loves a bit of the ivories, then Leeloo’s vocals come in – again the track sounds more like a musical theatre piece… This is just priceless, BM is blown away by the ambition and also the subtlety of this track… It is not easy to do, but my God Paul Research delivers, and then some…
Closer ‘Andros’ sees a lot more electronica deployed and the return of Carrie Furniss on vocals – the bass recalls maybe early Simple Minds, while the sound dynamics and production are again second to none. It is maybe the most enjoyable track on this quite extraordinary EP, the listener is encouraged to just lose themselves in the music, with synth effects, a driving beat, and some eccentric time flourishes… Just another of the best tracks of the year so far.
In all, an unbelievably good release from Paul Research and his collaborators – anything else just pales into comparison at the moment.