Paul Smith & Peter Brewis: Frozen By Sight

Neither musician is exactly a household name, but this collaboration of Paul Smith (Maximo Park) and Peter Brewis (Field Music) is intriguing.

The bookish Smith's travel writing forms the basis of these aural postcards, with tracks such as Santa Monica describing a seaside encounter and Perth to Bunbury evoking images of Western Australia in a spoken word-like manner.

Given Brewis's idiosyncratic past work, the music, unsurprisingly, is odd, but the sharp chamber pop of Mount Wellington Rises, the off-kilter rhythms of Exiting Hyde Park Towers and the dramatic flourishes and use of mournful piano are evocative.

It’s an odd little project that occasionally feels half-finished, but is strangely captivating.

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Download: Mount Wellington Rises, Santa Monica