Uncompromisingly quirky and at times downright odd, Turner has always been refreshingly honest and true to his skewed musical vision. His brand of artisitic singularity has come with a price and though he has been churning out album after album to growing acclaim, commercial success has eluded him.
His sixth studio album sees him travel a less unorthodox melodic and instrumental route than in the past with no shortage of memorable tunes on offer. Opening with a short a capella pop hymn that recalls Brian Wilson’s Smile era it leads into the Hammond organ and chiming guitars of the title track which, along with ‘The Bright and Early’ combine dense textures, jangly Rickenbackers and engaging melodies – all of which suggests he’s not averse to penning a straight pop song.
‘Jazz’, the current single is nothing like the title suggests and sounds more like Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ set against a Spectorian wall-of-sound with a driving rhythm and yet another winning melody. Most of the time the lyrics are impressionistic, though he helpfully points out in the liner notes that ‘Mr Turner’ is about a cross-dresser encountered by a gay friend of his in a bar at London’s Victoria Station! A low-key folk song 'The Ballad of Rory Gallagher' features samples from the great axe-man himself and is a suitable tribute to one of Turner’s heroes. At times listening to these songs can be a frustrating experience; choruses never quite materialise the way you expect them to and middle eights are largely absent, while some of these songs suffer from being two minutes longer then they need to be. That said there’s always something interesting coming around the corner in a Pierce Turner song and for that alone he should be commended.
The album was written in Wexford and Manhattan and recorded in upstate New York with an impressive roster of musicians. Interestingly, the project was filmed for a TV documentary to be aired later this year.