They say long live the king and all, but nothing’s ever set in stone. A quarter of a century since his self-inflicted coronation, and self-released debut solo album, Kenny Anderson – DIY pop voyager, ancestral seaside home restorer, squeezebox lothario, Fife for lifer, diamond miner, hijacker of hearts, and the man also known as King Creosote – has released over 100 records (at a relatively conservative guess), collaborated with the likes of Jon Hopkins, KT Tunstall, Beta Band’s Lone Pigeon, and had his songs covered and performed by artists including Patti Smith and Simple Minds. He’s now got a new LP, despite or perhaps because of it all. It’s called “I DES”.
And no, it hasn’t bypassed a songwriter so buoyed by playful lyricism that the title of this latest release is an easy anagram of “Dies”. But bear a couple of things in mind: 1) “I DES” is a reference to KC’s key collaborator this time around – multi-instrumentalist and co-producer Derek O’Neill aka Des Lawson of Blantyre (2014’s From Scotland With Love, 2016’s Astronaut Meets Appleman); and 2) HRH King Creosote has been circling his demise for the entirety of his musakal life.
“I shan’t complain,” he rejoices on the album’s most uplifting hymn “Blue Marbled Elm Trees” – a new song also shared today – “I had the best time laughing with my girls / I had the best life offered up / By this blue marble or any alien world.”
With a suitably beautiful video (directed by Reuben Sutherland) to match, “Blue Marbled Elm Trees” reflects on life, death, the universe, art and love. Always the big stuff with Kenny.
Elsewhere on “I DES”, there are the previously released songs “Susie Mullen” and “Walter de la Nightmare”, as well as the 36-minute “Drone in B#”. The record’s kaleidoscopic musical terrain plots vibraphones, accordions, e-bows, samplers, ungulates, pipes, scratched records and wine glass-drones across its landscape. But there’s common ground in the wonder of the synthesiser – not to mention Anderson’s singular voice, and his roguish, roving, ever-evolving, gorgeous songs in the key of Fife.
While the record’s kaleidoscopic musical terrain plots vibraphones, accordions, e-bows, samplers, ungulates,
scratched records and wine glass-drones across its landscape, there’s common ground in the wonder of the synthesiser – not to mention Anderson’s singular voice, and his roguish, roving, ever-evolving, gorgeous songs in the key of Fife.
*On both vinyl formats, the 36-minute final track “Drone In B#” will come on a download card, on limited double-disc CD “Drone in B#” is on CD2.
The Fat Angel Sings 