A couple of years ago, Joe McAlinden (Superstar, BMX Bandits, etc.) put out a superb album on Slumberland Records under the Linden name. That record favored a more straightforward indie-pop than what's on his new release, Where the Clouds Go Swimming.
Recorded on his own, the album favors electronic textures, and a kind of spaciousness that's really compelling. A track like "209" recalled for me moments on the third album from fellow Scots The Blue Nile, while the elegant "Sparkle" added a dash of Scott Walker to that equation. Joe McAlinden is his own artist, of course, and that has resulted in a really singularly pleasing record here in Where the Clouds Go Swimming. The string samples on "Wish" and "Light" put some of this in the realm of chamber pop, but Joe is not one to let himself fall easily into one genre here. He's pursuing his own muse, and the end product is a deeply personal, heartfelt album, and one which stands as one of the most absorbing offerings in 2023. Fans of Talk Talk, Mull Historical Society, and Eighties Eno should find pathways into the pleasures of this one.
Where the Clouds Go Swimming by Joe McAlinden is out now. More details below, and via JoeMcAlinden.com.
[Photo: Joe McAlinden Bandcamp]