Darwin Deez – the man, the band, the godawful haircut – is back, again reeling off some sharp observations on urban life like only an ex-rapper can. Songs For Imaginative People is a highly polished follow-up album, though the hike in production values is almost to its detriment. The songs aren’t as strong this time around and the sharper sound highlights the inadequacies of the music. When the songs don’t have anywhere else to go, studio wizardly is employed or scrambled guitar solos are shoehorned in, in an effort to push the songs to another level. There’s no shortage of ideas – (800) Human samples Autechre, Alice is an endearing Skype to Australia – but the melodies aren’t strong enough to tie everything together.
Things improve gradually in the second half of the album, though the head-and-shoulders highlight is Redshift, a ballad on par with the debut album’s softer tracks Bed Space and The Bomb Song. Here, you’re reminded of Deez’s ability to make a song sound deeply personal but also wide-screen and universal, as seen through his quirky, twisted lens. But it’s one gem lost amongst a bunch of uptempo songs that run on the spot, ringing bells and blowing whistles, and having absolutely no impact. You’d have to have a pretty good imagination to deem this a solid album.
BY CHRIS GIRDLER
Best Track: Redshift
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: Mumps, etc. WHY?, Here Comes Science THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
In A Word: Skittish
