Following on from some Bandcamp-only offerings, Comet Gain singer David Christian is prepared to drop his official solo album, For Those We Met On The Way this Friday. The Tapete release is as bracing as any of the recent Comet Gain records, and as smartly rendered too.
Billed to David Christian and The Pinecone Orchestra, For Those We Met On The Way bristles wtih ideas and emotion in equal measure. The opening "In My Hermit Hours" could certainly pass for a Comet Gain tune, while "Dream a Better Me" takes that whole vibe and makes it a bit more intimate, though no less rollicking. Imagine Richard Thompson covering Mott The Hoople and you'll get a rough idea of the flavor of lots that's here. Christian seems at ease, even as some numbers, like the morose "See You in Almost Sunshine" venture into heart-on-the-sleeve twanginess, unlike some of the cuts from his home band. As Christian modulates his methods, he keeps this all interesting, rarely letting anything here seem too intimate or precious.
The focus feels more introspective than on a Comet Gain record, even as lots of this maintains a familiar level of quality. "I Used to Make Drawings" is a good example of how that can be done, even as "The Ballad for the Button-downs" leaps out as the highlight here from For Those We Met On The Way for me. I wish everything here had this sort of young Robert Forster-energy, but I'm cool with the way Christian has pursued other goals outside of Comet Gain, while doing it all with his customary smarts at full throttle.
For Those We Met On The Way is out on Friday via Tapete.
[Photo: Anne-Laure Guillain]