Steve Mason – Meet The Humans
8/10
Steve Mason's third solo album marks the beginning of the end of a journey that began in 2004 with the breakup of The Beta Band. He has since worked with Richard X, released work as part of Black Affair and recorded as King Biscuit Time. This, though, is his most consistent, and accessible work to date. Still marked by elements of darkness and trepidation, but with a positivity and concern for humanity that was still missing from 2013's Monkey Minds In The Devil's Time, tracks like Hardly Go Through show Mason ready to confront the world in the company of others. Perhaps it is the influence of Elbow's Craig Potter, who produces, but the self-indulgent experimentation is gone, replaced with lush arrangements and instrumental flourishes – the plucked strings in Alright and the melodica in Alive. At times, as in Like Water and Words In My Head the result is understandably Elbow-esque, but there, too, are echoes of Pink Floyd and The Verve jostling to be heard. Planet Sizes is gloriously Stone Roses. The hit-and-miss idiosyncrasy of earlier works may be missed by some, but this search for a new order could become Steve Mason's personal Dark Side of the Moon.
David
8/10
