Introducing: Duncan Lloyd - page 2

27-08-2008 11:42

Lloyd recorded most of the instruments himself, although the music contained herein – the explosive dynamics and nagging guitar interplay of 'Misfit', the chiming, cerebral power-pop of '7 letters' – sounds like the work of a living, breathing, sweating rock band.

Maximo Park drummer Tom English added live drums to eight of the ten tracks, playing over the drum-machine parts Lloyd had already recorded. "He took two afternoons to record them all," says Lloyd. "I played him the songs once, gave him one or two run throughs, and then he'd record over the original drum machine parts. You can sort of hear them bleed through in places, and I kept those moments in there, because it was sort of a record of how those songs were born."

Such moments help make the album such an intimate pleasure, balancing out the perfect-pop songwriting Lloyd displays on songs like 'Make Our Escape' (a sun-dappled dash of murmured harmonies, whimsical jangle, and breath-stealing chord changes), 'Suzee' (a playful and puzzling sort-of-love-song, juggling nursery rhyme verses and a surging chorus), and the sleepy, radiant 'Nightfly'.

Reference points are cast all about, nods to Wire, to Guided By Voices, to Eugene Kelly, to the wiry Beatles of Revolver-era. But most of all, the album sounds the work of Duncan Lloyd, every homely track bearing his instinctive thumbprint.

While work continues apace on the third Maximo Park album, Duncan is planning a series of low-key shows across the UK to promote the album, having already debuted his live rhythm section at a handful of unannounced shows.

"It was pretty nerve-wracking," he admits, of taking the microphone for the first time, "It was a challenge more than anything. I sing backing vocals with Maximo Park, but to actually go ahead and do this, I had to learn how to use my voice to express the song idea. Sometimes it's a bit out of tune, but like the album, that's all part of the charm, I guess."

Lloyd guesses right. Perfect imperfection seems his game and, on his debut album, there's not a bum note out of place, not a song that isn't blessed, rather than cursed, by the album's deftly-played, dextrously homespun warm pop sound. He shouldn't change a thing.