Alfven / Matt / Amadeus-Chor - Scandinavian Choir Music - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Chilcott / Greenaway / Scott - All Good Things [COMPACT DISCS] date 09/08/2017

Joyce Yang - Collage [COMPACT DISCS] Jewel Case Packaging date 10/11/2011

Debut album of 23-year-old UK artist Oliver Spalding. As with his debut EP InchUnfurlInch (2017), the album was written and recorded with producer Ed Tullett (Novo Amor).Built around Spalding's staggeringly beautiful voice, the record is full of melodic, immediate songwriting and arresting electronic production.Asked about his choice of title, Spalding explains, InchTo be melancholy all year round is to suffer from Novemberism.Inch And indeed, these 11 tracks are woven together with a common thread of heavyheartedness. Even the more upbeat songs, like title track InchNovemberismInch and InchBow CreekInch, which drive and glisten with intoxicating pop hooks and 80s era synths, recall the darker undercurrents of classic New Order.Says Spalding, InchThe album focuses on a certain period of time in my life and the things that happened around me. My honesty in songwriting is key. The aim of this album was to be raw and emotional. Emotions are scary and no one wants to face them, and that's what I wanted the album to feel like - something that is uncomfortable but also beautifully revealing.Synthesizers feature heavily across the record, including single InchBow CreekInch, where iridescent synth stabs and rich strings wash over a hazy, late-night London. InchI'm a huge Roxy Music fanInch, says Spalding, InchI love Brian Ferry's work and take inspiration from the Prophet synth sounds on the 80s Bruce Springsteen records. Opener InchAthaméInch explodes the record into life with a barrage of saxophone and cymbals, before settling down to InchXanaxInch's addictive delayed guitar lines and Spalding's world-weary vocals. The slow, dark R&B simmer of InchHer CrescentInch reflects in the dark, ethereal pool of Björk-influenced soundscape InchEmissiveInch, and the quietude of the delicate, piano-led heartbreaker InchGoldenInch gives room to breathe after the gloomy electronic cacoph