Louis Barabbas - Gentle Songs of Ceaseless Horror
9/10
Taking a break from his day job in The Bedlam Six, the man once described as “the Fagin-Nymph of Dirt Swing” has, in his own words, produced an “unintentional concept album of – to put it very pretentiously – existential ghost stories”. I’m not sure I can beat that description but here goes. Imagine, if you can, the Leonard Cohen of Popular Problems scoring the soundtrack to a Tim Burton musical and having it recorded by a less glum, more swinging Tindersticks or a laidback Bad Seeds and you might be getting close.
Opener A Matter Of Life And Death and Faith In Myths highlight the Cohen influences. You Did This To Me is a funky take on Randy Newman style singer-songwriter shtick. Before It’s Too Late could soundtrack a wedding proposal scene in a particularly dark, twisted Disney musical. Highlights Widow manages to combine West Country folk with Americana and has something of Josh Ritter about it whilst Scarecrow bears a passing resemblance to The Unthanks.
There is something of the music-hall and the musical about this but that ain’t a bad thing. The songs are bloody good, the playing can’t be faulted. Barabbas is a talented writer with a rich, warm voice and this is highly recommended.
