The man himself admits that the concept album is an unfashionable and much derided form in the modern age. But just because it isn’t in vogue isn’t a reason not to tackle it. In fact, the people who would wilfully jump the zeitgeist shark, ‘scuse the mixed metaphors, are probably the ones that you should be paying most attention to. And so with Starguide about to drop, his third album in a series of multi-faceted, genre-wandering, lyrically probing, releases, In The Street arrives to set the scene.
It grows from an ambient wash and spacious piano punctuation into gently drifting, thought-provoking and philosophically poignant soundscapes. More often than not the most interesting music is not about direct communication but rather it paints pictures and conjures scenes for the listener to cocoon themselves in, to explore and expand on and this is one of those times. There is a sort of Blackstar-era, Bowie-esque melancholy to the piece, which if consciously done is a brave approach, if not it shows excellent taste in influences being brought to the creative fore.
Spacious almost to the point of being in danger of floating away into the ether, In The Street is a watercolour painted of slight sonic hues, with brush strokes of atmospherics and anticipation, at times it hardly feels like music at all and also music taken to its (il)logical conclusion. How wonderful!