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Dug up from the permafrost of punk-funk obscuria, ex-XTC and Gang of Four men explore the emotional life of monsters.  It’s alive…

Shriekback - Oil & Gold

ARISTA, 1985

Throughout the rock epoch, commentators have slagged record companies for the dilution of art in pursuit of profit.  Full marks to the Arista label, then, for releasing Shriekback’s Oil & Gold.  A chthonic portal into an inverse world of eat-or-be-eaten terror-funk, macabre amusements and terminal ambience, it would have sat heroically askance in the Phil Collins and Wham!-embracing charts of 1985.

Co-vocalist Barry Andrews looks back on an anomalous situation.  “There was a precedent in the Thompson Twins - also on Arista, also signed by the bloke who signed us - of a band turning from weirdo, uncommercial ugly ducklings into great big shiny ‘80s cash swans,” he reflects.  “I think Arista still held out a wispy hope that that would happen.  The cover idea was to make us look dreamy and great, but we ended up going for a gang of eels and feathers, which were props that became the main event.  Once again the record company were not totally made up.”

Formed in 1981 in Kentish Town, the group’s core consisted of ex-XTC keys man Andrews, Gang Of Four bassist Dave Allen and Carl Marsh, former guitarist in squat funkers Out On Blue Six.  Having logged such unnerving dancefloor releases as My Spine Is The Bassline and Tench EP on the Y label, they’d signed with Arista for 1983’s Jam Science album.  After July ’84’s crisp single Hand On My Heart got to Number 52, they regrouped for a third LP, having been joined by drummer and Fairlight sampler operator Martyn Barker.

Andrews recalls a complicated genesis, commencing when the band took 20 rhythmic sketches to Rockfield studio in south Wales, with producer and future Hollywood soundtrack composer Hans Zimmer (who turned up three hours late, copping a £600 black cab bill after missing his train).  “Everybody was involved in a lot of groove-building and improvisation to get ideas rolling,” says Marsh.  “Then Barry and I would pick the ones we fancied and write lyric and melody ideas and structure them into songs, after which everyone would pitch back in with ideas to fill in all the gaps.”

After more session at Lillie Yard in west London, mixing took place in various studios in the capital and Bath.  It was not an over-harmonious process, remembers Andrews.  “There were a lot of major rifts,” he reveals.  “Our manager wanting to sack me, Carl was gearing up to leave, Hans getting sacked - we ended up mixing with Gavin MacKillop.  God we spent a lot of money.”

Good things
come to those
who wait.

The English proverb certainly applies to Shriekback’s thirteenth studio album, Without Real String or Fish.  Begun back in 2011, the band completed work on their latest offering on 1 November, 2014 – a wholesome day, indeed – much to the delight of their fans, both old and new.

Before I delve into the song-by-song, I must come clean by informing readers that I count myself among Shriekback’s fans, and the songs I can admit to not enjoying that much can be counted on one hand missing a couple of fingers.  Although I will do my level best to remain objective in writing this, my subjectivity should be considered when you read it.  For that reason alone, you should listen to the album, so you can judge for yourself.

Also, please bear in mind that any lyrics interpretation is mine alone, and could be completely off the mark.  Again, you should listen and judge for yourself.

That said, let’s go!

1. Now Those Days Are Gone (Andrews/Marsh)

In the tradition and spirit of Shriekback’s 1985 magnum opus, Oil & Gold, and its first track, Malaria, Now Those Days Are Gone bombards the senses, leaving no doubt the band are not playing around.  The groove is deep and unrelenting, living up to the Shrieks’ decades-old agenda to create music to which people cannot resist dancing.  The combination of Rock and Funk, along with the rousing chorus, makes the song a solid anthem.  The lyrics sound not only autobiographical, speaking to Shriekback’s early days, they also convey a biography of the time in which most of us long-time fans came of age.  The chant-like call and response chorus hint at regret for an age that’s passed, but the accompanying music doesn’t let any potential navel-gazing progress go too far.  Sure, those days might be gone, the song seems to say, but we aren’t, and that is what matters.

Favourite lyric:

We were living in the future
Now those days are gone
We were kings, we were preachers
Now those days are gone
We had incubi and succubi
Now those days are gone
All these pleasures standing by
Now those days are gone

2. The King in the Tree (Andrews, Barker, Marsh)

Beginning with a clockwork carousel, the song seems to promise a tour through a deserted fairground containing the ghosts of revelries once indulged in happier times.  In typical Andrews fashion, the lyrics contrast with the music, and they conjured in my mind visions of the demiurge-like Hapexamendios, the insane architect of the First Dominion, in Clive Barker's Imajica. Regarding The King in the Tree, Andrews had this to say: [M]y image of a King in a Tree was King Sweeney of ancient Eire (from Flann O'Brien's 'At Swin Two Birds'), who was cursed for attacking a priest and went mad:  climbing into a tree where he stayed - reciting poetry and eating cresses.

The title character in the song also seems like a representation of the Green Man in modern times, invisible to most everyone who prefers to turn [their] face to the wall rather than see him and rescue him from us before we find ourselves in need of rescue from him. A wise warning indeed.

Favourite lyric:

Secrets words of the world are Engulf and Devour
(why is all this tyrannical shit in the soul of a flower?)

Note:  When listening to this portion of the song, pay attention to the music when Andrews sings “why is all this tyrannical shit in the soul of a flower?”  It mirrors the lyrics with an aural blossoming.  Brilliant.

3. Soft Estate (Andrews, Barker)

Soft Estate weaves a delicate soundscape that will doubtless make the hearts of Big Night Music enthusiasts beat just a little faster.  The undulating melody dresses lyrics that encourage the listener to populate that soundscape with beasts and structures.  It is absolutely a song you would want to sing in your sleep, but it also one that promises waking dreams.  Andrews shines here, his command of language obvious, along with an uncanny ability to seamlessly meld poetry and music to create a unique visual for every listener.

Favourite lyric:

all along we were licking at the light
and clawing at the roots
and walking in the night
all startled at the sound
and reeling at the sight:
all the information:
limitless and liminal…

4. Woke Up Wrong (Andrews)

Musically, this song is probably my least favourite, but the lyrics, with their play on names and words, more than compensate.  The conceits are all tongue-in-cheek, but for any linguaphile, they will also double as pure delight.  The second verse takes the wordplay a step further, hinting at a little bit of danger you think you can’t quite grasp, but it may be you really don’t want to…  Like so many Shriek songs, the mischief implied latches on to your subconscious, and that’s what you carry with you long after the song has ended.  A particular stand-out is the piano solo, sweeping the languid patterns of the rhythm along in a flourish.

Favourite lyric:

Barney Manglue with his running gags
(you wouldn’t want to do the kind of things he wants from you)
Butcher’s sawdust in a hundred bags
(needs that soak-up since he woke up).
Stretch the moment with his steely claw,
spread this second to infinity and more.
World-matter rattle, it’s a losing battle
(we always knew it had a tendency to get bad)

5. Beyond Metropolis (Andrews/Marsh)

After days of mulling over how to best describe Beyond Metropolis, I finally settled on Etymological Chimera.  This song is a triumph in every way, and will more than likely drive lovers of language to smoke a cigarette after each listening.  The afterglow is that good.  I’m really not going to say much about Beyond Metropolis, because it would be unfair to spoil those who have not yet listened to it.  Musically, the song is what we’ve come to expect from the Shrieks:  intelligent, funky, and rhythmically perfect.  Lyrically, Carl Marsh makes a good case for adding words to the Scrabble dictionary that will let you win every single time.

Favourite lyric: All of them.

6. Ammonia Tree (Andrews/Barker)

This song may be the perfect example of why so many of Shriekback’s fans are often also seekers of knowledge, long after they have completed their “official” education.  It is fraught with references to mythology, literature, history, theology, and philosophy, but also offers Easter eggs of a more personal nature, evidenced in a kind of gentle angst and nostalgia.

Framed within Mark Gowland’s fierce harmonica, and underscored with a quiet rhythm, both of which enhance the longing, and a certain level of regret, you can clearly hear in the lush tapestry of Andrews’ keyboard work, Ammonia Tree vividly takes you to the locations, both real and imagined, mentioned in the song.  It paints pictures and freezes moments you can take with you when drawing to a close.

It may be of interest that the last stanza of the lyrics is signature Andrews work, which focuses on a word or phrase – this time, it’s a phrase – that becomes a chant.  It’s very Shamanic in nature, using mnemonics to teach by rote.  This signature composition places Ammonia Tree in Shriekback’s family of songs that also includes The Reptiles and I and Hammerheads.

Favourite lyric:

When your own head bores you
with its bloody awful song
it wasn’t pretty wasn’t clever
and didn’t last for very long:
it felt like looking in the mirror
with all the strip lights on.
(might be a Stendhalian glory if you can only wait that long).
Is it holy intropection or wrestling futility?
In the quest for Truth and Beauty under the Ammonia Tree

7. Recessive Jean (Andrews/Barker/Marsh)

In the hierarchy of my personal taste, Recessive Jean would rank #11 to Woke Up Wrong’s #12.  What I find most impressive about the song is the rhythm and bass that makes it sound like a descendant of Feelers.  That’s not to say it’s a rehash of the elder song; Recessive Jean is undeniably a force unto itself, but it carries that Feelers vibe, which will make many Shriek fans miss Dave Allen.

Carl Marsh is once again taking the lyrical and vocal reins in this one, growling about the clever homonym in the title.  The apocalyptic implications are deftly hidden within the jaunty melody, and is a reminder that nothing is ever what it seems when you’re listening to a Shriekback song.

Favourite lyric:

With a charm to disarm and a passion for harm
In so many ways, so many ways
A façade of calm can but raise the alarm
At the end of days, the end of days

8. Horrors of the Deep (Andrews/Barker)

One of Shriekback’s more consistent trademarks is combining unease with beauty.  What could easily be the title of a chaotic Death Metal song delivers to you an ethereal vastness that overwhelms the senses.

Horrors of the Deep revisits Barry Andrews’ preoccupation with the sea in all its metaphorical glory.  The music alone is an aural ocean unto itself, all delicate ebb and flow.

As with Cormorant’s Sea Theory, Andrews offers up a meditation on the sea and how little we know about it, despite being born from it, carrying it within us, and eventually coming to rest within it, in some way or other.  The dust of our evolutionary ancestors can be found on ocean floors, and attempting to comprehend that is often unsettling, as such evidence forces us to come to grips with our impermanence when compared to the unimaginable immensity from which we came.  So, too, is our inability to understand mortality and what happens after.

Just as with death, the deeper the waters go, the less we know.  And it’s a human trait to fear the unknown.  That fear is etched into our DNA.  But just as with this song, if we dare to explore these arcane landscapes, we often find beauty and transcendence just under that layer of dread encoded within us all.

Looking at it from that perspective, the horrors woven into song become a living cradle instead of a watery grave.  Despite the horrors, in the end, it is illumination (or bio-luminescence) that wins the day.

Favourite lyric:

Sumptuously poised here in the foam
a watery quintessence
later pitifully trailing home alone
my bio-luminescence.    

9. In the Pylons (Andrews)

An instrumental that may be a musical re-enactment of touring an Egyptian temple, In the Pylons begins subtly, but escalates into epic, hard-driving drum-fest. No proper Shriekback album can go outside without an instrumental to keep it warm.

10. Man of Foam (Andrews)

The first thought that came to me upon the initial listen is that Man of Foam could be a lyrical look in on New Man from Go Bang! Elegant piano and shimmering synth carry the tune into Big Night Music territory, bridging a gap between the two albums in a very satisfactory way.

Favourite Lyric:

Oh Man of Foam
What you gonna do if he follows you home?
There will come a day
when the moth meets the naphthalene.

11. Everything Like That (Andrews/Barker)

Prepare to worship at the Church of Shriekback when you’re tossed into the Gospel-driven Funk that is this baptismal fire they call Everything Like That.  If anyone needs proof that Shriekback are still making music, this is all the proof you need.  A culmination of Andrews giving a nod to an author whose books have been of inspiration and the long love affair the band have with deep and dangerous grooves.  Everything Like That is relentless in its invitation to be properly arranged in the construct of the song.  Lyrically, it is a very close to being as brilliant as Beyond Metropolis.  The bass line of the song is one of the best on the album, in my opinion.  Judge for yourselves; however, it may take more than one listen to hear everything that’s going on.  It’s a veritable fun park for Shriek fans who prefer their tuneage to threaten as much as delight.  It could break some hearts as well, though, because you can only imagine how a live performance of this song would be.

Favourite Lyric:

Under the time-lapse clouds
out on the screen of green
I want to see the monsters couple
with the wet machine.
You are my salad witch
that I would like to dress.
I do not lack the Wound.
I do not lack the Mess.
And Everything Like That.

I could have easily said “all of them” as I did with Beyond Metropolis; however, this particular stanza holds one of my personally favourite things about Shriek lyrics – words that usually would not be capitalised, but are, to make them seem Very Important,  but the reason or meaning behind it is never explained, and that makes my imagination go wild.  What is this Wound of which you speak, Shriekback?  No, don’t tell me, I have my own ideas.

12. Bernadette (Andrews/Barker/Marsh)

A perfect end to a nearly perfect collection of songs, Bernadette is a lullaby that lets you get grounded after the manic Everything Like That.  It promises you good dreams and rocks you, overlooking a sprawling cityscape bathed in the twinkle of electricity, as the sun retires with you.

Bernadette‘s gait is akin to a metronome, used not only to maintain the see-saw magic of the melody, but to also hypnotise and assure you of your safety, even when the music spirals down as though the cradle has fallen.

Carl Marsh’s vocals and Barry Andrews’ piano give the song a stately air, a sort of ritual procession done each day as the sun begins to set on the place you call home.

Favourite lyric:

When beauty starts to fall apart
The savage eye and beating heart of darkness
Blessed Darkness.

Overall, I cannot recommend Without Real String or Fish strongly enough. Since they returned to music with Having a Moment, I have always cited Cormorant as my favourite among the albums they’ve recorded in the 21st Century. That must change now. This is one of those Shriek albums that doesn’t just shine in its place among the recent outings; I have no doubt that Without Real String or Fish will stand the test of time, and find itself treasured by Shriekers old and new. From the opening song until the soft dissolve into Dark, it’s more than obvious that this was a labour of love.


And we are the winners.

theafaye

In the time of early humanity, ten Elfin gather in a sacred grove to conduct an annual magick ritual when horror enters the world. One of their own, the Apostate, entraps them in a dark magic circle and unleashes a curse that turns them all into the Upry – vampires. The ten behold each other, and seeing the monsters they have become all flee. But their new vampire natures rule them, and they leave a bloody trail behind as they quench their newfound thirst for blood and destruction. Outcast from their Elfin brethren and in loneliness, they begin to create others to be like them and soon there are “Hives” of vampires, each Hive reflecting the nature of one of the original ten.

“Life in the Loading Bay,”

a Partial Song-by-Song of the

New Album by Shriekback

1."In the Dreamlife of Dogs:" Of the new song collection, I must admit to having a soft spot for this song. The philosophy sings (for lack of a better word) to me. The lonely delicacy of the instrumentation communicates a kind of longing for something we humans assume is a simple thing, yet continues to stretch far beyond our limited understanding. Barry suggests it might be a bit more complex than we believe in the extravagant piano phrase that paints a vast sonic painting of Dog's inner world. The music, both lilting an a little bittersweet, matches the language of the lyrics perfectly. The phrase "palace of scent" I found to be particularly striking. It brought to mind the psychological term "Memory Palace," having to do with spatial mnemonics. The dog's olfactory sense would be the firm basis for any canine's Memory Palace, the scent being the dog's strongest sense that connects it to existence and its own comprehension of the existential. The ending of the song is deeply satisfying, with Andrews' camparison of how little we know about each other to the mystery of a dog's dreaming mind. Favourite line from the lyrics: But the dog as he sleeps is opaque as we are. We dream as we live all alone in the nightmare of history. And, as much as I know who you are in the dark behind your eyes, the Dream Life of Dogs is no more of a mystery.

2.“Loving Up the Thing:” Probably my favourite of the collection, the word play pulled me in early on. That combined with the orchestral phrasing that frame the song perfectly exude a kind of sweetness not often found in a Shriekback song, but can be enjoyed to a great degree in this one. I consider it a companion piece to the more celebratory and amusement park ride “Hooray for Everything” from the album Glory Bumps. The hint of Gospel makes for a very feel good, sing-a-long feel to Shriekback’s typically twisted rhymes and wordplay. The orchestral portion of the song sounds like something one would hear during Cylon-Human battle in the new series. It makes one wonder if Barry was a fan and absorbed the sound by default. I suggest you listen to the song at least four times, each time for a different reason. A) Listen for the lyrics, as they’re typically Shriek brilliance. B) Listen for the music and how sonically perfect the instrumentation alone is. C) Listen for the sound effects. I swear I hear a Wookiee in there somewhere. What do you hear? D) Listen to the song in toto for the full effect of a wonderfully-constructed pop song. Favourite line from the lyrics: “Guilt is its own reward said the Martyred Angel to the Pleasure Lord.”

3.There’s nothing like an old-timey Gospel song about surrendering to the ramifications of our actions and that’s it seems “Make It Mauve” is all about. Pulling from the Parc Stic prophecies, Barry sits us down in the church of Alexander Leviticus to show exactly where we’re headed. Pulling from his love for traditional Black Gospel, Barry creates a song of praise and celebration mapping out how pollution is going to get us in the end. Fans of prophetic songs, tent revivals, word play, and general mischievousness will thoroughly enjoy this song. Keyboards are happily busy on this song, which makes for an even more fervent round of celebration. Favourite line from the lyrics: “that’ll be our history written on the air and, if we made it up then really who would care? Now we’re aniline purple with a febrile glow, and I just think it’s the only way to go.”

4.“Nowherenothingnever” is Shriekback’s sojourn into the Blues, as the band takes the trip down that long road of things happening and making things happen to see what can be stripped down, examined, and told to the audience. After their long Blues trip, the Shrieks decided the thing to cover up is “Nowwherenothingnever.” I can’t help but see this song as a bit of an autobiography on Barry’s part. Most Blues songs are autobiographies, and he uses a language that only he can be sure to understand, while at the same time allowing the listener to apply his or her own interpretation to the lyrics. Many emotions are touched upon in the song, but it does end on a relatively bright note, like many Blues songs aren’t noticed as doing, but actually do. Even though the message might be a little bleak, not to expect too much, one can still end up happy, despite The Blues creeping into your world. Favourite line from the lyrics: It don’t make no never mind, It don’t make no never mind, every naked ape wants to live forever / every human soul and all our best endeavours.

5.“Now I Wanna Go Home” speaks of midlife rocker angst. The driving beat and the bleak message just screams of someone who went out and did exactly what he intended to do, and now has has enough of it. Rock songs don’t have to be complicated, and I don’t think this one is, being the only full-blown organ-driven industrially-bludgeoned rock song on the album. The Shrieks have done what they’ve come to do. It’s time to go to go home. Favourite line from the lyrics: Gaffed like salmon and clubbed like seal, scraped me down to the bone, educational in its way, built some character I daresay, but now I wanna go home.

6.“Pointless Rivers” finds us in a territory the Shrieks have never consciously explored until now. We find the word play we’ve come to find so familiar with the lyrics, we just find them in the Paddy Rock format. Think Barry Andrews meets Flogging Molly over Guinness. Of all the songs, this one has the fullest sound the busiest music going on. The lyrics play at being both sarcastic and desperate. Of all the songs “Pointless Rivers” surrounds and binds the album and gives Life in the Loading Bay a cohesiveness it doesn’t otherwise have. And Barry on accordion is always a good and Holy Thing. Favourite line from the lyrics: Gonna lay my hands upon you, gonna chase you round the pond (may not be so exciting now these elements are gone). We know that Satan’s watching us and has been all along, and thus we see the Pointless Rivers flow.

7. The most bittersweet of the collection, “Simpler Machines” caresses those of us heading into the second interlude of our life into taking the trip easily, unsure of the technologies of the day and where we may fit inside their clockwork poetry. It makes us long for days when we understood the newness of the day and didn’t find ourselves doddering in response to our younger nature whose apps, tweets, and torrents carry on to a place that not as comprehensible as the world sung about in “Simpler Machines.” The busy, almost multi-metronome beat maintains the illusion of those things that work, but also promise us that our day is the that’s past and the future date may not be so joyously simple as hoped. Favourite line from the lyrics: the scrapyard stars are glittering tonight – the shards and smithereens – no question – it is a sentimental sight. Our toys and tools: all of those simpler machines (they’ll break your heart alright, those simpler machines).

10 July 2010

Tracy Angelina Evans

Lighterthief’s Hard Listening

Hard Listening, the latest offering from Swindon-based music collective Lighterthief will fill you to overflowing with sonic wonderment while leaving you craving for more. The EP features three songs, none of which have any similarities or common ground except for the presence of Lighterthief mastermind Stuart Rowe, of Future Sound of London/Amorphous Androgynous fame, and XTC’s Andy Partridge, whose APE label is fortunate enough to carry the collective.

“My Dream Sea” features APE vocalist Jen Olive on lead vocals starting the listener out gasping for breath as Jen instructs you to “just breathe in and out.” You’re then blanketed with an ocean of sound that swirls and plays with your senses, and incorporates everything from 30s-styles vocalizations from backing vocalist Andy Partridge to Gregorian-style chants. An overall Trip-hop feel is enhanced by Jen Olive’s delightful vocals, her style being sexy, solid, and confident enough to experiment and play with the music.

“Running with the Mothmen” throws the listener into the mad world of Barry Andrews, ringleader of another music collective Shriekback. Stuart Rowe’s quirky and infectious guitar riff is the gentle glue that holds the song together, as swanky sax and electric rock guitar vie for the listener’s attention. Typical of an Andrews song, the lyrics engage the music, merging flawlessly with it, yet still demanding a certain attention of their own. The chaotic percussion serves only to augment the lyrics, prompting the listener to go “mad as a bag of cats” and “do what the voices say.”

The more mainstream offering on the EP is “Shining Surface.” With both Stuart Rowe and Andy Partridge pulling guitar duty, the engine of this song is revved from the beginning few notes. Sam Bates shows us exactly why he’s part of the Lighterthief Live Band with his strong, unwavering voice. The bridge is reminiscent of the Psychedelia that came out of the 80s. The song is so powerful, it literally has to be geared down before it can come to a conclusion! Both fans of XTC and Foo Fighters would definitely find this song on all their favourite play lists.

Should you buy Hard Listening? It cannot be more strongly suggested that you do. In the wasteland that the music business has created producing vapid music with little substance and a pretty face, this is indeed a lighthouse for people who love genuinely good and original music. Stuart Rowe’s production is flawless and serves only to enhance an already delightful auditory banquet. The only problem is you’re left wanting much more from Lighterthief. Be prepared to wear out the repeat function on your players. You can find Hard Listening available at the Ape House, and be sure to check out Lighterthief’s other EPs while you’re there.

- Tracy A. Evans

The Seven Snowmen ~ Schichin No Yuki Otoko

Imagine if you will a Calvin all grown up, roaming the Earth, Kitana always at the ready. Imagine if you will Bill Watterson meeting Akira Kurosawa and drinking just a little too much Saki before conceiving an epic film short that would combine the best of Calvin and Hobbes and Akira Kurosawa’s Samurai films. Based on Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai, the film focuses on a lone warrior who solves a little problem the villagers in the north have before the Great Melt. How he handles this problem is both hilarious and twisted.

Written, produced, and starring Scott McClure, Schichin No Yuki Otoko is a delightful tribute to a genius filmmaker and an equally genius comic strip writer. You’ll find yourself watching this repeatedly and chuckling in spite of yourself. You may also find yourself wondering how Scott McClure pulls off looking Japanese when he’s anything but. His ability to physically transform into whatever role is set before him is uncanny.

''In the Dream Life of Dogs"

What occurs in the mind

of a cur by the fire?

on the rug as he growls and he drools;

as he spasms and twitches ?

A bloodbath of rabbits

where the faecal aromas are sublime?

in the Dream Life of Dogs

these we think are the riches.

There the crow's provocation

will no longer be endured.

There the insolent rat is subdued

and is stricken and shaken.

There as King of the Rains

The Wild Rover -the bitches' rump so fine...

This the Dream Life of Dogs?

or are we mistaken?

(solo)

For all that we know, in the hound's inner world

there are marvels to rival the greatest that man can envision:

a Palace of Scent

where the Laws of the Pack are redefined

is the Dream Life of Dogs

maybe ripe for revision?

But the dog as he sleeps

is opaque as we are.

We dream as we live all alone

in this nightmare of history

and as much as I know who you are in the dark behind your eyes

the Dream Life of Dogs

is no more of a mystery

Of the two songs, this one is my favourite, I must admit. The philosophy sings (for lack of a better word) to me. I love the lonely delicacy of the instrumentation in this one, communicating a kind of longing for something we humans assume is a simple thing. But you suggest it might be more complex than we believe (and it probably is. We humans tend to dismiss anything that’s not directly of our own narrow little world) and you paint a vast sonic painting of Dog’s inner world. The music, both lilting and a little bittersweet, matches the language of the lyrics perfectly and the phrase “palace of scent” I found particularly striking. It brought to mind the psychological term 'Memory Palace,' which I first encountered in the book Hannibal, having to do with spatial mnemonics. The dog's olfactory sense is basically his Memory Palace, so this fit so sublimely. The ending of the song is just as satisfying, though, with your comparison of how little we really know about each other to the mystery of a dog’s dreaming mind. This is what made me fall in love with Shriekback’s music, the more introspective melodies on ‘Oil & Gold’ and the whole of ‘Big Night Music.’ This is the kind of music I think about when someone asks me to try to describe your music. And this will be logged alongside my many favourites you’ve written over the years. Thank you for sharing with me. As always, it’s an honour to get previews of the wonders to come and to have my opinion valued.