Kyle Falconer
No Thank You
Riverman
THAT Kyle Falconer’s debut solo album sounds nothing like the music of the band he fronts, The View, is not a huge surprise. That it sounds unlike pretty much unlike anything else that will be released this year is more worthy of notice. Falconer has made no secret of his fondness for the mainstream, whether that is American Adult-Orientated-Rock or the songs of British musical theatre, yea even unto Lloyd-Webber, but the extent to which the sound of this album is rooted in the 1970s is nonetheless striking.
It is very personal, with multiple references to his troubled relationship with drink (first single Poor Me) and the rehabilitation treatment he has been through, as well as the journey to self-knowledge that has gone with that (The Therapist, Family Tree, Jekyll Down Your Hyde). It is also genuinely solo, recorded in Paul Weller’s studio with drummer Scott Duffy and the Rogue Orchestra providing the only contributions not played or sung by Falconer himself, who also originated the arrangements.
His ability to knock out a top tune has been evident since The View’s Mercury-nominated debut Hats Off To The Buskers over a decade ago. On this eleven-track set they keep coming, with the concluding trio of Lily Anne, Madonna’s Make-Up and Last Bus Home as good as anything that precede them. Fans of The Kinks, Falconer’s mate Paolo Nutini, and his fellow Dundonian Michael Marra will all find things they like in its 40 minutes, and it deserves to find a large and diverse public.
Keith Bruce
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