There are a number of words us music journalists use as shorthand to describe things in the hope that you’ll understand what we’re talking about (“angular”, “hooky”, “warm”, “poptastic”). One of these often used phrases is “chamber pop”. And when I heard Thomas Walsh’s excellent new album the only thing I could think of saying was “this is chamber pop”.
So that got me thinking about what the feck that actually meant. Okay. “Chamber” suggests “chamber” music of the classical genre. So Pugwash’s album has a level of sophistication in its song structures that suggests opposable thumbs and a highly developed cerebral cortex. This means it’s beautifully arranged – harpsichords, pianos, strings, synths, vocoders, guitars and vocals wrap themselves beautifully around the songs. But to be honest that doesn’t tell you a huge amount.
Then, of course, there’s the word ‘pop’. This bit suggests it’s very, very catchy. And it is very, very catchy. From the single ‘Take Me Away’ to ‘Here’ to ‘Song For You’, you will be humming this at the traffic lights. However, pop’s a pretty broad church that stretches from the Pixies to Girls Aloud. So that doesn’t tell you much either.
I could impress upon you all the other luminaries who’ve noticed just how special Walsh’s songs are. I mean this record includes (as well as regular band-mates Keith Farrell and Johnny Boyle) contributions from Andy Partridge and Dave Gregory of XTC, Neil Hannon, Michael Penn and the Section Quartet.
But let’s face it, as far as you’re concerned there’s no accounting for taste and I could be an escaped mental patient who’s killed Patrick Freyne and stolen his laptop. So all I can do really is say “this is very good” and give it a decent mark.
Key track: ‘Here’