Dissolve Into The Black – The Birdman Rallies (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

This first release from the album Real River is a wonderful slice of baroque pop, subtle textures and chilled late night vibes. Rippling melodies hover over a slow dance-floor groove as the song slowly builds with hypnotic tension before descending into an almost classical payoff. It is a wonderful mesh of detail but for all its musical machinations the end result remains sleek and eloquent, slick and elegant. The swan analogy in action, if you like, the surface a calm veneer with all the work being done underneath and out of sight.

Some music deserves to be taken apart and examined, this however, despite the wonderful musical mesh that it is built from, deserves to just be enjoyed on face value. The beauty of a landscape is not improved by digging wholes in it to understand the geology beneath. This is a musical soundscape that should be treated with the same reverence.