Palindrome Hunches
Nicely juxtaposed against the thundering riffs of Tremonti, Neil Halstead’s third solo album is a beautifully understated little record, full of autumnal shoegazing and whimsical folk. This is one of those albums that are all about large amounts of songwriting skill and minimal amounts of everything else. Simple guitar and piano, (with touches of double bass and violin) are deployed to create a heartfelt gem. Halstead’s voice is mixed throughout with female vocal support: the result is dreamy and intoxicating. There are obvious comparisons to be made to Nick Drake, but also, on the more playful tracks, there are hints of something more like Regina Spektor. The standout song is probably ‘Wittgenstein’s Arm’, which manages to make me happy about feeling sad. This album is a must-have. It’s my first taste of a truly superb British songwriting talent – from Reading originally – but I’ve read that his earlier work has been extremely influential. Easy to see why. The beauty of simplicity.