Psychogeography follows the notion that roaming spontaneously around urban centres is far superior to adhering strictly to preconceived tourist trails. It applies the principles of the 'dérive', or drift, set down by French Situationist Guy Debord.
Following what sounds like a similar idea, 28 year-old Meilyr Jones from Aberystwyth visited Rome for the first time in 2013. The core of his debut album is a musical diary of his adventures and impressions.
He went out every day to churches, galleries and bars; drifting and wandering in the footsteps of Lord Byron and, since he didn't speak Italian, his emotional responses were internalised and deeper than any equivalent experiences would have been in more familiar environments.
Five songs on this debut album were conceived in the eternal city and boldly imagined as full blown orchestral pieces. The tracks in question are Olivia,Return To Life, Passionate Friend, Rome and Be Soft. The piano-led Refugees was the first song he wrote after his return to the UK and reflects the feeling of cultural shock.
Back in London, Jones called upon friends and friends of friends to put together a 30-piece ensemble of players comprising classical, rock and jazz musicians.
A Glaswegian choir and various field recordings were later added to the mix. "I wanted to capture that feeling in Rome of high culture and low-brow stuff all mixed together", Jones says.
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The opening track, How To Recognise A Work Of Art, is inspired by an attempt to write about a Neo-classicist sculpture but "not in a wanky way". Effete and upbeat, it ends up as a cross between The Divine Comedy (the band) and breezy rock and roll.
Jones is something of a culture vulture, so the artists he was inspired by include Berlioz, Jacques Brel, Ken Loach, Orson Welles and John Keats. I also detect the influences of British singers with a similarly foppish, thespian bent like Morrissey, Patrick Wolf and Neil Hannon.
Broadly speaking, I'd say the high-brow arty-farty elements win the day so his attempts to 'slum it' in more commercially focused pop territory, for instance on a track like Featured Artist, come across less successfully as mannered and forced.
By turns pastoral, pretentious and precious, this ambitious song cycle has plenty to recommend it although often tends to get bogged down within its own complexities.
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