I’m really not sure what to make of this album.  That’s not to say that I’ve initially approached it only to then back away with a kind of “what the hell is this?!!” type of response, but moreover I’ve played this album some 20+ times and still really don’t have a clue what to make of it all.  I’m not totally sure if it’s either a conscious body of work or possibly a case of throwing ideas into a blender only to see what happens.

It doesn’t help that the album kicks off with “Healthy Functional Tissue” which completely dispenses with the usual build-up and instrumentation.  Instead, we’re introduced straight away to the vocals – or more accurately the line “Fool, you will find you need a woman”repeatedly sung around a piano loop which is soaked in reverb.  It’s all very Pentecostal church.  I also have no idea why, but at the point just where the vocal commences in “Totem”, we’re suddenly introduced to a snippet of a woman’s voice for about two seconds before suddenly being returned to the song.

It’s almost as if Lung Dart, A.K.A. London-based Tim Clay and James Rapson, have seriously gone out of their way to test us.  “Please Font Worry” (yes, the track’s actually spelt like that!) is the sound of a piano which is possibly being played at the bottom of the ocean.  “One Day You Just Stop” then immediately begins – and once again it’s a single vocal line repeated over and over.  Similarly, “Caliope” is the sound of a lightly played synth with what sounds like people buying a coffee (I think) in the foreground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bY6O-7zZns

So, who’s this album going to appeal to?  Well, once upon a time I went to see a band called Revolting Cocks (from the United States).  I recall looking around and seeing that the audience appeared to be full of misfits – people who you just didn’t seem to see in the street – yet here they all were, gathered together in that room.  Perhaps the misfits will like this album.  I also imagine that arty types may be interested in this album – particularly women with long hair who wear purple dresses to gigs and wave their hands around in the air as if to catch passing fairy dust.  If you think you’ll enjoy the sound of church-like melodies played alongside the sound of somebody playing squash (as on the track ‘Squeeze’), then maybe you’ll enjoy it too.

It should be noted that Lung Dart are not touring this album – but instead putting on an “installation” (whatever that means) in a back room of Holdron’s Arcade in Peckham on 26/27 August, which aims to provide the “ideal environment to take in this record”.  Make of that what you will.  But you make want to take sunglasses.

Paul Lockett