The voice of Hayden Thorpe is a divine thing. Fitting then, that his debut solo album is called Diviner. The record, out tomorrow via Domino, is a more atmospheric and emotionally-vulnerable offering than anything Thorpe put out with Wild Beasts. And yet it's still a fairly accessible collection of pseudo-New Wave.
The title cut and the Sakamoto-recalling "Stop Motion" are languid, contemplative excursions in the territory occupied at times in the past by David Sylvian and O.M.D., while the brighter "Earthly Needs" is easier to love, flashes of Erasure and Depeche Mode here. Elsewhere, "Straight Lines" brings to mind early ballads from The Blue Nile, while the lovely "In My Name" and other cuts here seem like the direct descendants of the kind of material perfected by the late Mark Hollis in Talk Talk. Hayden Thorpe makes most of Diviner work wonderfully, despite a real lack of variety in tone and mood here. Still, that's a fairly minor criticism to level considering how affecting the tunes remain. Thorpe makes these compositions things of pristine beauty, but he's an even more impressive artist when he wraps his voice around a tune that's a bit more accessible and direct.
Diviner is out tomorrow via Domino.
More details on Hayden Thorpe via his official website, or his official Facebook page.
[Photo: Uncredited Facebook page image]