Black Midi’s Cameron Picton mathy punk for acoustic, high drama sophistipop with My New Band Believe, Many were sad when mathy Londoners black midi broke up two years ago, but I’m enjoying the burning embers more than the original fire. At first, most of the attention focused on Geordie Greep, who burst out of the gate with his impressively wigged-out “The New Sound“. The band’s other singer/guitarist, Cameron Picton, kept a lower profile but emerged last year with a solo project that has since evolved into My New Band Believe.
Picton has gone even further afield than Greep with My New Band Believe, but in a more grounded way. Acoustic guitars are at the center of this pretty, lushly arranged record that at times recalls the string-laden, wildly romantic sophistipop of the ’80s.
Songs flow into one another, swooping daringly with the melodrama of a film score, as Picton moves the action from Paris to Seville and then to London for a little English prog. You can’t take all the math out of him after all.
Interestingly, My New Band Believe announced a non-LP single, “Numerology,” which is out today as well and was perhaps too singular a pop song to squeeze onto the album. And the day before the album’s release he shared another new song. Picton is moving fast and it’s exciting to think where he’ll land next.
The Fat Angel Sings 