Trainboy’s I Am Not Myself is a collection of songs that seems to sit in that intriguing space between the intimacy of the singer-songwriter and the broader sonics of a full band sound. It’s a balancing act that allows the songs to feel both personal and expansive, never quite settling, and all the better for it. And if you are one for characterful vocals, then you will love trainboy‘s voice. (And that isn’t me being diplomatic, in a world where every singer seems to sound the same, I love a vocal comfortable in its own skin.)
There are clear nods to the ever-elusive notion of Britpop— ask a dozen people what that actually means, and you’ll likely get fifteen different answers. Suffice to say, trainboy would have slotted comfortably into that scene back in the day, not so much echoing its laddish and bombastic heyday, more suggesting where it might have naturally evolved had it not burned out so brightly in a blaze of hubris and ego.
The opening track, ‘Handbags’, kicks things off on a wash of jangling guitars, bright and infectious yet purposeful beneath the shimmer. ‘Green Tea’ shifts the mood, blending a loose, almost pastoral feel, albeit with sharper, more urgent guitar lines than such a word suggests. By the time ‘Gravity’ rolls around, you get the first real glimpse of that Britpop DNA, though it feels rooted firmly in the present rather than trading purely on nostalgia—a notion pushed further still by ‘Rescue You.’
‘Take Your Time’ acts like a sonic sorbet, pulling things back, a song that sets up a great dynamic, ebbing and flowing between restraint and release. Proving that there are plenty of diverse influences and inspirations at work here, ‘Perfect Day’ hints at a darker undercurrent, its denser textures suggesting a familiarity with the shadowy edges explored by The Velvet Underground.
Altogether, it’s a collection that feels less like a throwback and more like a thoughtful continuation of an unfinished conversation. And all I can say to trainboy is this…keep talking!
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