Damon Gough's debut under the moniker Badly Drawn Boy was the surprise winner of the mercury Music Prize in 2000, and I bought the CD at the time, presumably attracted by the hype and the strangely named artiste. Returning to in at the age of 25 (the album, not me) it feels like an idiosyncratic singer-songwriter album which has held up fairly well as a gentle diversion, rather than a landmark statement.
Opener, The Shining, quietly stumbles in on a cello and horn accompaniment and is a lovely song to kick off proceedings, followed by Everybody's Stalking, more upbeat, powerful and electric. There's a short organ instrumental before the similarly short, understated Fall In A River. Camping Next To Water has an almost Camberwick Green theme feel, gently flowing along, and the watery theme continues with the lovely Stone On The Water, the guitar and cello interplay redolent of Nick Drake.
Another Pearl is the first song to feel mundane or formulaic, but after another instrumental, Once Around The Block restores the quality. This Song is short enough to feel like a mere interlude, not fully developed and leads into Bewilderbeast, a pleasant but unremarkable extended instrumental. Magic In The Air continues the 'pleasant' feel, and Cause A Rockslide carries on in this vein, feeling underproduced and raw, outstaying its welcome but leading to the enjoyable, almost singalong, Pissing In The Wind. And after yet another instrumental break, Disillusion is a fine pop song, followed by the slower Say It Again, with a nice Dixie/brass accompaniment, before the album slides away, almost apologetically on Epitaph.
There's so much to like about this album - the freshness of many of the songs, the vulnerability of Gough's voice at times - but the instrumental interludes feel intrusive, as does the 'homemade' sound of the production at times. nevertheless, it's a strong debut album, which for me tries to cram a little too much in and at times overdoes the rawness and authenticity.
3* - many top songs, but they sometimes get lost in the production and the whole concept.
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