Daddy_Scrabble – Thingy

Languorous, luscious and at times slightly torturous Trip Hop/Folk/Jazz today courtesy of Daddy_Scrabble and Black Lantern Music. ‘Thingy’ is a five track EP which meanders along, revelling in brooding, slightly paranoia inducing orchestral structures, not quite manifesting itself as a truly unnerving listening experience but doing just enough in mixing isolated delicacy with surprisingly charming if pessimistically inclined Trip Hoppery.

There’s very definitely a consistency here which holds the release together well, keeping you just focused enough to start submerging into it whilst rarely looking up to notice that whilst eminently listen-able there might not be quite as much depth here as first listens may suggest. Not that I’d seek to knock the album for that, there is still more than enough here to justify a download, but if you delve deeper into ‘Thingy’ there’s a limited amount to really dig into beyond clever, aurally pleasing trickery. It’s very well produced and the (literal) bells and whistles come in with just the right form to inspire actual attention on the listeners behalf, but the successes there are largely surface level and beneath the veneer there’s a rather more predictable picture of Jazz wondering being painted. Of course structural depth is only one path to take and far from the sole hallmark of good music, in fact what’s here is in parts far more pleasing than a more demanding effort could have managed, but for some reason there was an expectation at work from the second I hit play. I expected a labyrinthine complex of intertwined musical strands to be lurking beneath the surface and from there I found it hard to adjust myself to the relaxed, neutrally indulgent experience it finally offered up.

Again, though, I’m loathe to classify something which might just be my own assumptions at work as a failure on Daddy_Scrabble’s part. Although I will say that this should be taken as it is, rather than being prodded and probed at in search of new musical dimensions.

 

Well worth a download.

Leave a comment