Into Music Review: Nick Power & Mark McKowski – Throat
Artist: Nick Power/ Mark McKowski
LP: Throat
Label: AV8 Records/Deltasonic Records
The Coral may be the closest we have to a 21st Century Big in Japan, the (genuinely) legendary post-punk outfit that spawned a plethora of mind-bogglingly talented off-shoots.
While The Coral ‘mothership’ attains critical and commercial success under its own right, it’s testament to the group’s membership that such a huge, varied and perhaps magnificent series of solo projects have recently beamed down from it: Paul Molloy, Ian Skelly and most recently, Iechyd Da, from ex-member Bill Ryder-Jones. The abundant talent that emanates from The Coral is truly remarkable and, amazingly, only seems to grow with each solo and band release. And now comes this latest undertaking, from keyboard player Nick Power alongside Irish producer and songwriter, Mark McKowski with their gloriously dark ‘Throat’ project. It’s important to know this is a joint venture so should not be viewed as simply another Coral off-shoot.
It would be simple to expect this to resemble the tightly structured psych-tinged guitar pop which Liverpool excels at. However, rather than buoyant lysergic jangle, this feels more akin to a woozy, unreleased Searchers album, had they experimented with henbane and early synthesisers; all floaty with half waking eldritch drones and a sense of foreboding, supernatural dread. This is a seriously dark record that conjures up a menacingly brooding and ancient England.
A common issue I have with music described as ‘hauntology’ is the dynamic range. It’s one thing to create atmosphere with analogue blips, drones and so on but it’s quite another to take the listener on a journey, and in my experience this really is due to a lack of cohesion, progression and concept, which can lead to an unsatisfying listen. Not that this is a concept album by any means but it does have an overall vision which is why I think it works so well. It’s a remarkably cohesive work with subtle variety in its sequencing which is ultimately satisfying enough to provide enjoyable repeated plays.
What works best, and elevates this above many other ‘Hauntology’ albums, is the underlying quality of songwriting and production. Second track, One is a quite beautiful slow ballad. Texturally, the acoustic guitar interweaves remarkably well with the oppressive production. Subsequent track The Master bleeds in with a kaleidoscopic mix of nursery nightmare exotica and it’s this sequencing which heightens this work.
Of course, while this album is Coral linked, it doesn’t necessarily follow that it has to adhere to a Coral aesthetic, whatever that means – this after all is the co-creation of Mark McKowski too and incorporates his clearly impressive skill set and background in production, as well as soundtracks. Together, their combined credentials merge into a winning joint work. It’s an often hugely successful mix, such as the beauty of Nick Power’s Dream, and the ominous, static, panic inducing soundscape of New Brighton Speedway Fire.
This is a really special album that’s often challenging to listen to but like many such albums is hugely rewarding.
Throat is out October 4th on Deltasonic Records and AV8 Records on vinyl and CD.
Available to buy from www.av8records.co.uk
Grant McPhee
@GrantMcPheeFilm
Links:
@Holynowhere
@aviatormusicuk
@DeltaSonicRec
@thecoralband