The Balky Mule // The Length Of The Rail

I love FatCat records and have done for quite some time. And I think having listened to this album by ex-Bristolian Sam Jones, aka The Balky Mule, I may now love them even more. This album was, apparently, created over a period of 5 years and grew out of a library of sounds and noises that Sam had created using bootsale-found and salvaged keyboards, synths and other electronic kit, coupled with acoustic guitars, zithers and traditional percussion and it’s a wondrous thing to listen to. The aesthetic of giving new life to otherwise redundant and abandoned instruments aside, the sounds and layers here are many and subtle and work better together than they perhaps ought to but they really do. Whilst the overall tone of the album is something that could be described as being very British, there’s also an element of Eels about it in places. The lyrics here are quite grounded and on the wry side and, coupled with the more upbeat instrumentation, the overall tone of the album is both sad and charming at the same time. I really, really like this album and am excited by the promise of a follow up EP to be released later in the year.