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Album Review
by SashaS
23-6-2004
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| Badly Drawn Boy's 'One Plus One Is One' |
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Badly Drawn Boy: 'One Plus One Is One'
(XL Recordings)
Badly Drawn Boy: internal observations of self
After a noise of something being opened, Badly Drawn Boy, a.k.a. Damon Gough, starts the title track with the line, “Back to being who I was before”, to set the mood for this record that is personal, reflective and searching for an individual truth in the world that could stick an ‘Armageddon’ banner arcoss the North Pole. It still sounds folky, warm and direct because most of the time it is only he and a guitar that captures your attention more than many more things.
‘One Plus One Is One’ is a pensive record with overtones of The Beatles - the song with its string arrangement - it is not far from John Lennon would have done. Quite a luscious little ditty, that is followed with several more introspective songs. ‘Summertime in Wintertime’ ends with flute and an atmo that recalls the earliest days of Jethro Tull.
Further down the line, we get a kid’s choir in ‘Year of The Rat’, a piano upbeating ‘Another Devil Dies’, ballady ‘Holy Grail’ ends this intimate journey about the whole array of human emotions in settings that feel equally familiar and brand new. BDB has the knack to drop the tune that makes you all glow on the inside, like several single malts. A record to re-listen and learn a thing or few…
The man-in-woolie-hat, who won a Mercury Music Prize for his debut ‘The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast’, is still a unique voice amidst the ever-growing army of Nick Drakes and other mythical singer-songwriters clones… BDB refuses to set himself perimeters and some real beauties emerge from his experiment in sound, such as the instrumental ‘The Blossoms’ that reaches some classical proportion.
On the whole, Mr Damon Gough is a romantic who knows how to paint pastoral songs with eclectic instrumentation. Innovative at times, surprising at others, generally mellow, this is a record by a man who’s faced his demons of fame and come to terms with it. Being affected by it, having changed but still remains as genuine as the charts music is supine. Or, he is a great actor of a songwriter.
‘One Plus One Is One’ is all about that most important person we individually hope to know rather well… Otherwise, pop music of impeccable style.
8/10
SashaS
23-6-2004
Badly Drawn Boy's album 'One Plus One Is One' is released 21 June 2004 by Twisted Nerve/XL Recordings
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