Alexander Carson - The Idiot

Alexander Carson's third solo album is a slow and ponderous work which seeks to examine our own behaviours and attitudes in order that, by the time we arrive at the final track, we may have decided who, exactly, 'The Idiot' is.
 
Well, it certainly isn't Carson. After 2019's 'Ellipsism', which was stuffed to the brim with honest lyrics and simple melodies, and the semi-improvised instrumental opus 'Tombland', 'The Idiot' is yet another change of direction - a brand-new, truly beautiful work that, in some ways, recalls the heady days of Wooden Arms, the neo-classical fusion band that came so close to catapulting Carson and Co to stratospheric fame in 2014 with their album ‘Tide’.
 
The ten new tracks together express a ponderous and perhaps melancholic view of life – as have so many other recent releases written and recorded during the lockdown. But Carson does it with beauty and grace, so that listening to 'The Idiot' actually becomes a cathartic experience, providing a source of hope and positivity, rather than a mere reflection of the despair we all felt.
 
Opener, 'The Museum', was apparently inspired by Salinger's 'Catcher In The Rye', and references the world that Holden Caulfield wished he could have lived in. Carson delivers his lyrics with an almost conversational timbre, and sounds deliciously like Rufus Wainwright in the process.
 
'Gloom', paradoxically, is a magnificent piece of mood-defying inventiveness – a true nod back to the days of Wooden Arms, whilst 'Algorithm' cunningly bucks its own trend by spinning off into a world of jazz-infused swing, accompanied by a lively string arrangement. The final track, ‘So At Last’, which follows on from the brief, yet atmospheric, violin and string instrumental ‘Lumen’, provides a slightly mournful conclusion, perhaps serving as a final confession or self judgement?
 
‘The Idiot’ certainly heralds the welcome return of one of Norwich's foremost contemporary composers and artists. Catch them for the album launch at Norwich Arts Centre on Sunday October 30th.
 
9/10