Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Always expect the unexpected, that way when the unique comes along you can celebrate it in an honourable fashion, with a smile, with the feeling of goosepimples lurching out of the skin and imploring the heart and mind to enjoy the thrill, the chill, of the spectacle and the release of what is underneath, the Animal uncaged.
The unexpected though is a gift more in keeping with the unpredictable and the astonishing, for in Lump, the brainchild and collaboration of Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay, the result, for the uninitiated, is one of exceptional cool, groove, and dare it be said, madness of the most beautiful, creative kind, and in the duo’s second album, there is no sign of difficulty in the palette to which the pair have placed trust in the presentation of the musical painting or the sculptor’s chisel in which has chipped intricately away at the marble; instead, the Animal is let loose to walk amongst the human fraternity, feeding on inspiration and surprising joy.
Laura Marling and Tunng’s Mike Lindsay has produced something extraordinary, a set of songs of the Avant Garde, the theatre in all its glory, a psychedelic ride to which encompasses the beating heart of Ms. Marling’s sweeping gesture like narrative. Unexpected? Maybe! However, the result is one that pushes the boundary of art, not for this duo the safety of the known and familiar, instead the unrestricted joy of exploration is the key to the album’s success and response from the listener.
Across tracks such as Gamma Rays, Climb Every Wall, Hair on the Pillow, the exceptional We Cannot Resist and Phantom Limb, as well as the album’s title track, Animal, Lump lead the listener down a dark spine-tingling road, one to which might be considered akin if The Beatles’ ‘White Album’ had been written by a sage of the beat movement or if Ginsberg’s Howl had been placed in the hands of Stephen King…such fancies work because the one being entertained and informed is allowing their imagination to flow, not to be hemmed in by expectation and uniformity.
An album of serious depth, quality, and assurance, the Animal is not just unleashed, it is found to be playful and full of mischief. Excellent and full of groove, uniquely pleasurable.
Lump release Animal on July 30th via Partisan/Chrysalis.
Ian D. Hall