George Henderson: Late Romantics (bandcamp)

 |   |  <1 min read

George Henderson: Late Romantics (bandcamp)

In a beautifully evocative and appropriately Ophelia-referencing cover by photographer Hayley Theyers comes this intimate interpretation by George D Henderson (the Puddle, New Existentialists) of two poems by the Romantics (Byron, Yeats) interpolated with instrumental passages.

These poems praise the enchantment of a woman (Byron's She Walks in Beauty) and drink/death as only the Irish can do (Yeats' A Drunken Man's Praise of Sobriety).

With Henderson's voice multi-tracked and mesmerisingly out-of-synch, these brief poems are supported by Jen Brio 49-P organ (which has an in-built rhythm option).

The organ can be somewhat cheesy in a pop context but Henderson here uses it as a moody and evocative soundbed or to induce a kind of warm torpor in the slow instrumentals (notably on his title track, Ghost Mope being a little more chilly).

This is perhaps a vanity project in that it would have a limited audience, but that shouldn't put anyone off.

Henderson says of the mini-album it is “designed to be listened to in a state of lassitude or languidity, whence dreams may come”.

Reason enough to take 18 minutes out of your day and get pleasantly lassitudinous.

.

You can hear and buy this album (and others by the New Existentialists) at bandcamp here


Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Chris Isaak: Always Got Tonight (Reprise)

Chris Isaak: Always Got Tonight (Reprise)

The composed and moody Isaak isn't a guy you'd credit with a sense of humour but his TV show, sort of sitcom-cum-real life, was so self-deprecating he's going to get a fairer hearing round my... > Read more

ONE WE MISSED: The Skull Eclipses: The Skull Eclipses (Western Vinyl/Flying Out)

ONE WE MISSED: The Skull Eclipses: The Skull Eclipses (Western Vinyl/Flying Out)

It's widely accepted these days that when it comes to sonic innovation, studio techniques and the post-modern assimilation of ideas from the vast musical past of recorded music, that hip-hop... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

BLAME THE NAME GAME: Double J and Thrice the B*

BLAME THE NAME GAME: Double J and Thrice the B*

This might need close attention. It's about the bewilderingly few names in my family. Ridiculously few. My father was Graham Paterson Reid and my mother was christened Margaret Noble Lamb... > Read more

ELSEWHERE WORLD SERVICE: A quick overview of recent world music releases

ELSEWHERE WORLD SERVICE: A quick overview of recent world music releases

Here's a frequent flyer/transit lounge/vicarious listening music column for those at home who want to get their musical passport stamped. Elsewhere has so many CDs and downloads commanding and... > Read more