Diplomat M: Collaboration One (Sound) review – An incomplete vision

After spending years as a member of long-departed Dublin band The Chapters, their former bassist, Michael Murphy, has struck out on his own. Well, sort of.

Mini-album Collaboration One (Sound) does what it says on the tin and sees Murphy working with a number of artists, musicians and film-makers in a bid to fine-tune his vision. The problem is that that vision isn't always as clear as it could be.

This is undoubtedly an experimental endeavour, as the discordant stalk and droney bleep of machinery on Pant Suit Disaster, the filtered vocals and stop-start nature of Yummy Mummies & Boho Dummies, or singer-songwriter Barry McCormack's spoken word murmur on the melancholic, scratchy synth of Ghosting indicates.

Elsewhere, the deluge of grungy bass on the post-rock tinged Drones is thoroughly satisfying, while Swine Lake is zippier and less concerned with musical scrimmages for their own sake.

Those tracks, with a more forthright sense of purpose, make the more lasting impressions here, while others blend into the background in a cacophony of muddled sound.

Still, with some creative ideas firmly implanted, who knows what might come next?