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Blending the words and wisdom of visual artist David Shrigley with the whip-smart musicianship of songwriter and Arab Strap co-founder Malcolm Middleton, Music and Words perfectly captures the pair's absurd wit and stark delivery. It's a special collaboration album that started out wrong but ended up just right. InchI misinterpreted the meaning of Shrigley's words so created a certain style of music to accompany the wrong themes,Inch admits Middleton of the album's non-existent narrative. InchI took one song, 'Sunday Morning,' to be a scathing attack on the pomp and arrogance of religion, only to be informed that it's just about willies and was recorded on a Sunday morning. It makes for an interesting record though.Inch Featuring the vocals and mimicry talent of comic actor Gavin Mitchell, the transatlantic tones of Californian friend Scott Vermeire, and actress Bridget McCann, the album was born in lieu of payment after Shrigley created artwork for Middleton's album a Brighter Beat. InchI loved all the music Malcolm made,Inch says Shrigley. InchWe have similar sensibilities; we're both into darkness, pathos, despair; existential things. It was just what I wanted, even though I didn't really know what I wanted.Inch InchStory TimeInch is the first earful from the album and boasts humor as black as the lines of Shrigley's drawings. InchIt's the song that started it all,Inch Middleton recalls. InchFunny, disturbing, and then a bit more disturbing. It's a beautiful song, not just a cheap shock,Inch he says, affirming the album's subjective nature. Or, as Shrigley puts it, InchThe meaning is negotiable.Inch But, as he goes on to say, gathering source material for the pair's mordant style didn't happen overnight InchMalcolm wrote the first pieces of music in 2007 so the album has taken about seven years to make... that means it must be good, right?Inch CD artwork by David
