While Nicholas Allbrook can seem larger than life when fronting kaleidoscopic psych-pop band Pond, his fourth album trades aplomb for honesty. Slow burners like Carla Geneve-assisted closer ‘The Night Before You Flew’ are starkly intimate, beautiful while feeling like they may break at any moment.
‘Commodore’ and the devastating, elegiac ‘Jackie’ take sonic cues from Oz rock’s dalliance with new wave in the ’80s, Allbrook pairing meditations on love and grief above retro synths and sparse drum machines. As with the classics of that era, those songs have a painful desperation in them, reaching a hand out for connection.
it’s interesting to hear a record from Allbrook as unhurried and focused on raw emotion as his fourth solo album, ‘Manganese’. The songs here, most of which move slowly, feel big and lush though they’re made up of relatively few distinct parts at any given time. Anchored by prominent basslines, the textures on ‘Manganese’ have a patchwork quality, as gently strummed chords, bubbling keys and flute unfurl around each other, each in their own time.
‘Commodore’ taken from the new album ‘Manganese’ out now on Spinning Top Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 