Winter Sun is the latest solo album by Young Marble Giants principal songwriter Stuart Moxham, This is available in two separate mixes, although I was only sent one version to review, apparently Stuart sent a bunch of songs to producer dave Trumfio and told him to choose which ones to record and orchestrate, The first version was recorded in Valencia with Dave Trumfio who added orchestration and mixed the album back in Los Angeles. Then they were unmixed and reworked by John Henderson and Roni Ayala in Valencia which is the version I was sent. If you order it from bandcamp you will get both versions.
The album opens with the gently acoustic Cottonmill Lane a tale of a lover going to a tryst and being uncertain of what will happen, over a gentle acoustic guitar, harmonica and Stuart's rich storytelling of how he felt after leaving the tryst.
Dagger And Pill is a dark tale that has the musical feel of Nick Drake but with the unsettling question of how you combine the uses of Dagger And Pill, are you splitting pills in two due to how strong they are, or do you need the dagger when going to buy your pills due to the evil men lurking in the shadows.
Before We Prayed is almost chamber folk pop for the uncertainty you feel before you pray. Heart Of Glass isn't the Blondie monument but a rather slight carefully strummed look at why your friends heart is so fragile it might shatter like a pane of glass at any moment.
The Quiet One is carefully plucked stings and gentle piano hinting at the confusion this quiet fellow feels at all that's going on around him, can he find a way to overcome his reticence.
Ancient Time has a tropical sunshine feel to both the guitar and percussive elements, it feels laid back no matter the intensity in the lyrics about a hard winter they are struggling to survive.
Different Day the sort that leaves you crying at the sad cadences of gorgeous guitars trying to free you from the prison of your past, the troubles you have survived. State Of Penitentiary is a slow string accented tale of dark thoughts and feelings of stasis and not knowing quite how to move forwards into a more fulfilling state.
Do The Locomotion if only he'd gone the full Kylie on this, of course it isn't that Little Eva pop classic, this is more of a tale of the effects of heavy drinking in summer and how it affected your friendship.
Showers is a love song set among rain showers on a dreary day, that this music makes feel upbeat and happy, while you try to work out if your worthy of the love being shared with you, the low self esteem and guilt for the things you may have done previously are hard to shake as you watch that rain falling.
The album closes with Different Day II the instrumental version seems to have an almost flamenco edge to the guitars that shimmer against gentle backdrop.
Find out more at https://moxham.bandcamp.com/album/winter-sun https://www.facebook.com/stuart.moxham1
