Whether or not it’s a discovery you end up savouring, solo albums provide a fascinating insight into the musical private lives of your favourite bands. Written on tour with Texan avant-garde rockers …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Original Machines has the haphazard charm of a playground kickabout with Conrad Keely’s heroes. Ostensibly a journey around the world in 24 songs, the album hops from J-pop through Richard Ashcroft miserablism and ‘90s shoegaze to George Harrison sitar envy like it makes complete sense. Which, peering into the lopped-off boiled egg melange of Keely’s head, it probably does.
FOR FANS OF: Ride, Ryan Adams, Elbow, The Lemonheads
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(this review was originally published in rock sound magazine issue 209 Feb 2016)
GARETH PIERCE 