The Bristol artist refracts beat, jazz, punk and classical influences into a jaw-dropping 9-track collection.
Photo: Holly De Looze | Words: Fil Pollara
'Bats Feet for a Window' is a colourful sensation from Bingo Fury, offering a downtempo lyrical richness that ties together many of the UK's most original solo multi-instrumentalists. Track after track is an elegant waltz through the misty meadow of balladry as the Bristol musician makes a commanding case for the unorthodox on the 9-tracker, released via the State51 conspiracy. 'My Cup Overflows' opens out like a Philharmonic concerto at the Barbican before the quirky gaps of a capella – a cornerstone of the Bingo Fury playbook – take control of proceedings.
'Unlistening' stands out, its offkey melodic poetry cleverly conjuring a sense of suspense that's rich in porous lyrics and tonal brilliance from the muted trumpet of avant-jazz whizz Harry Furniss. The Beefheartian 'Power Drill' is as energetic as the name suggests. A near-nasal vocal delivery from the singer-songwriter – real name Jack Ogborne – proves as infectious as it did on previous EP 'Mercy's Cut'. 'Mr. Stark' sports the armoury of unpredictable lyrical fun, versing on hospital floors, dreamliner aircrafts, the lot.
This full-length feels more sombre, introspective and guarded than those ecstatic first tastes of Bingo Fury. That tone is most richly achieved on 'Centrefold' and 'Never Gonna Be A Dead Man.' Ogborne has an appetite for the carnivalesque and unsheathed absurdity too, a counterpart to this moodiness, reigning supreme on 'I'll Be Mountains', a song that could neatly accompany a bizarre Bulgakov novel.
'Leather Sky' on one side evokes the brassy sounds of a failed revolutionary's last defiant breath on the battlefield, yet with a coin flip, you're suddenly channelling Tom Waits in a dive bar upstate somewhere. In a nutshell, that is the sunburst of flavoursome and unpredictable vignettes that governs 'Bats Feet for a Window.'
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