Paul Smith
Margins
Billingham Records
Somehow when you see Paul Smith鈥檚 name, it feels like you know what to expect. The Max茂mo Park front man already has an enigmatic character, an art-rocker who reads poetry and that type of thing. Referred to as his 鈥渙wn album, not a solo album鈥, the sound isn鈥檛 a complete departure from Max茂mo Park.
The 13 tracks included in this album portray a quieter side of Smith. The music is stripped down, showing a complexity in his lyrics and style, which sometimes gets overshadowed by the band. With this in mind, it is important to approach this album with a different mind-set, although it鈥檚 Smith鈥檚 voice that鈥檚 instantly recognisable, you won鈥檛 hear any anthems like Apply Some Pressure.
That鈥檚 alright though, because songs like Improvement / Denouement and Alone, I Would鈥檝e Dropped have their own merits. It would have been nice to see a complete departure from the Max茂mo Park sound, but that begs the question, how far could Smith really go? For all the hard-core fans, don鈥檛 worry Max茂mo Park hasn鈥檛 disbanded.
Shirley Stevenson