SONGS OF GREEN PHEASANT - Soft Wounds

Duncan Sumpner, with his project Songs Of Green Pheasant, is one of the most authoritative voices of Sheffield's new scene. Long gone are the noisy robotic tumults of the assembly lines that inspired the bands of the punk-electronic era; gone too is the urge for rebellion and social redemption of the Thatcher era. What remains is a disoriented, hopeless humanity, immersed in grey clouds and industrial fumes.

Songs Of Green Pheasant narrate this post-industrial crash with music rich in neoclassical minimalism and a sparse folk sensibility, the same raw material that Talk Talk, Bark Psychosis and Blue Nile shaped into intense, rarefied sonic creations.

The album settles into mournful, informal tones, with small folk songs barely disturbed by baroque flourishes. These are tracks with the psychedelic charm of early Pink Floyd, even though the opening notes of "Teenwolf" offer a brightness otherwise absent here: a pop-folk sound that evokes Beach Boys and Spirit before venturing into psychedelia.

Once again melancholy takes hold of the music, with electric, nocturnal shivers in the manner of Bark Psychosis ("Deaf Sarah" and "Mirror") and an almost cinematic minimalism ("For People"). It's an album that also draws on electronic seduction and rhythm in the elaborate "Flesheaters". The record shows its best side, however, when it invites us to observe a handful of sonic fragments from boundless perspectives, as in "Sad Flowers (Viva Happiness)" or "Self Portrait With A Dog", without lingering in orchestral embellishments, unraveling the threads of a music that is often reticent yet rich in poetry.

Built on shadows and shades of a few recurring lyrical themes, yet persuasive and captivating, "Soft Wounds" demands attention and devotion to be fully loved. Duncan Sumpner returns to challenge the social decline of his native Sheffield, beginning to point us toward the first rays of light. We'll keep listening.

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07/09/2012