As King Creosote, Kenny Anderson has revealed himself as a wildly prolific artist. Dozens of CDR's, albums, singles, collaborations, and the like and he's back again here in 2023, cranking it out again. I DES is the latest offering, and it's on Domino on Friday. Those who've been following along with the Fife-based artist will likely be very pleased, but I'm sort of a newbie.
Opener "It's a Sin That's Got Its Hold Upon Us" is spry folk-influenced rock, while "Blue Marbled Elm Trees" is lyrical and heartfelt. King Creosote is capable of more complex music, but it's on these straightforward numbers that his talents are so readily apparent. Elsewhere, the yearning in Anderson's voice on "Burial Bleak" is a bit heartbreaking, even as "Dust" keeps things very simple, and very effective. There's similarities here for me with early Badly Drawn Boy and Mull Historical Soceity in terms of how this kind of thing hits a listener, and how it uses a blend of familiar melodic forms with bits and pieces of instrumentation or production touches to create a more enveloping sound than just a guy with a guitar (or piano, as the case may be).
Where I DES gets more complicated is during the half of the running time given over to the two longest selections here. On the 13-minute "Please Come Back I Will Listen, I Will Behave, I Will Toe The Line", King Creosote finds a way to blend melody and insistence. The number is fairly conventional, but long. And it has real sweep, and it works. The epic "Drone in B#" is more than just that, as over the course of those 36 minutes there's variance and shifts in mood and tone. It's presumably a digital-only release with I DES given its length of 36 minutes. Those two tracks don't distract from the emotional power of the earlier, more conventional ones, but they do shine a light on Anderson's vast skill-set.
I DES by King Creosote is out on Friday via Domino. More details via KingCreosote.com.
[Photo: Calum Gordon]