There's a real sense of
rembrance of things past
with Ian McCulloch's new
alum Slideling, his
first solo work in over
a decade in fact.
The album is solidly
guitar based and of
course with McCulloch at
the helm there are
obvious traces of Echo
and the Bunnymen on many
of the tracks. Slideling
also bears the imprint
of McCulloch's recent
work with, and support
of, Coldplay, Chris
Martin appears on
several of the
tracks.
There is much that
impresses here from
first single Sliding to
then uplifting Baby Hold
On to the hard hitting
Velvet Underground
influenced Love in
Veins. Stand out track
is the sepia tinged
Playgrounds and City
Parks where McCulloch
sings about his
Liverpool childhood, the
wokring class one of
being on detention and
"playing footie
until it's so dark you
can't even see the
ball".
Slideling was recorded
at Doghouse Studios in
Henley-On-Thames,
produced by McCulloch
and Bunnyman
collaborator Cenzo
Townsend and featuring
contributions from the
already mentioned Chris
Martin, Jonny Buckland
(also of Coldplay) and
actor/musician John Simm.
