David Turpin’s second album takes the supernatural as its theme. While it’s not quite a concept piece, there’s a consistently sombre mood that leads to some very dark places. Along the way, Turpin is assisted by Conor O’Brien of Villagers (guitar) and Cathy Davey (vocals), with Cora Venus Lunny adding violin and viola to seven tracks.
‘The Bone Dance’ is a tasty piece of dance/electronica, heavy on melody, with touches of the Pet Shop Boys, especially in the vocals. ‘Heart-Beep’ is outrageously catchy while the vocals on ‘Dorothy Gale’ are sublime. The Kraftwerk-tinged ‘The Skeleton Key’ is appropriately creepy, its vocals brimming with menace. And ‘The Red Elk’, featuring Davey, is a laid-back sonic adventure with cool vocals and cheesy strings. But it’s not all quite so magnificent. ‘Melmoth’ is a rather odd and none too impressive restyling of U2’s ‘With Or Without You’, and ‘King Of Swords’ has a solid rhythm and subtle percussion. Overall, this is a very fine record indeed.