(Samadhisound/Fuse Music Group)

Melancholic British trio create appropriately arty soundscapes for David Sylvian’s label

After the dreamlike blend of spoken word and ambient electronics of opening track Here It Begins, Sweet Billy Pilgrim’s second album seamlessly flows into the folk-jazz of Truth Only Smiles, which resembles a slightly more epic interpretation of Talk Talk circa Spirit Of Eden. More challenging fare appears in the slow, scraping percussion and brooding, shivery vocals of Longshore Drift, the group sounding like a stream-of-consciousness Scott Walker or Berlin-era Bowie. Interestingly, guitarist/singer Tim Elsenburg often resembles an elder Bowie in his vocal style, his gloomy croak sometimes bringing to mind the quieter moments of the former glam rocker’s 1995 conceptual opus Outside. The record has been receiving rave reviews in their home country of England, with Uncut presenting the band with breathless five-star praise. For this listener, it’s not of such classic calibre, but Twice Born Men remains a subtly powerful record. Suitably signed to David Sylvian’s Samadhisound label (with the former Japan mainman even acting as director for the album’s artwork), Sweet Billy Pilgrim are one of the most confident blenders of acoustic folk and laptops, the crackly samples perfectly in tune with rainy-day jazz rhythms and meditative roots influences. The epic sweep of Future Present Tense also shows the group know their way around a good pop melody. It’ll take a few listens to kick in, but when it does, you’ll be happy to file Twice Born Men alongside your Tuung or Vetiver records.

***½  

MATT THROWER

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