Adam Leonard
Album: Nature Recordings
Label: Northwestern Recordings
Tracks: 8
Website: http://www.northwesternrecordings.com

Beautifully packaged, this represents a very limited (300 copies) release for Adam Leonard's latest collection of songs, sonic excursions and sweet and dour observations. As ever, nothing follows an expected trajectory and for all the tenderness suggested by Lillian, I Love You, its course rarely runs smooth.

Looking for benchmarks, it's tempting to think of Syd Barrett and Swell Maps, but these are merely notional reference points. The music swoops and sways to its own time signatures as Leonard enlists the help of Steven Collins on the aforementioned Lillian and psyche-drone master craftsman PG Six helps drag the four parts of The Eighth Tower over its sonic representation of a defiantly regional landscape.

The Man Who Invented Himself flirts with cohesion before deciding it can't quite go through with it and exploring more tangents, while The Archaeologist plough a distinctly pastoral furrow while never quite letting the dirt settle under its fingernails.

Nick Churchill
www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk