Credited as the man who brought Alan McGee out of retirement, Glasgow artist Pete MacLeod returns with his second album, Crestfallen. Co-produced alongside Youth (Pink Floyd, The Verve, The Charlatans) and featuring contributions from Simon Tong and James McCartney, Crestfallen highlights the versatility of MacLeod as an artist with the album a complete change in direction from his debut, Rolling Stone.
Having unveiled new material both online and on support slots alongside ’90s favourites The Happy Mondays and CAST, MacLeod has been resisting fan interest for sometime as he waited for the right time to let this beast of an album out of the cage. Speaking to Gigslutz, MacLeod proclaimed: “I achieved what I set out to do with this album, which was make an album… Something that I feel has been lost in today’s culture of streaming. Some will get it immediately, others may never but it’s as breezy as I wanted it to be and was a joy to create”.
The 10 track album opens with title track ‘Crestfallen’ as the scene is set; Balearic beats crash through the airwaves like a wave breaking on the shoreline as the listener is consumed from the outset. Vocally the track appears an emotional outpouring of pent-up frustration with a soaring chorus (“Say it isn’t so, just letting go”) that drifts off over the horizon. It’s not hard to imagine thousands singing this back at a stage from a beach party or dance-floor in Ibiza. ‘One Day’ follows and hooks the ear with a hypnotic groove alongside soul searching lyrics that float through the air: “Spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts… You pick me up like a pack of cards… I don’t wanna be used that way”, before the anthemic chorus kicks in. A colossal track from start to finish, ‘One Day’ is an early highpoint with freshness worthy of massive airplay and exposure that unfortunately as an unsigned artist MacLeod is unlikely to receive.
Lyrically, ‘Do You Believe?’ appears to be a deep self-reflection projected outwards as MacLeod asks both himself and the listener a series of questions. ‘Without Love’ continues the reflective theme with MacLeod evidently questioning the price of success in today’s corporate driven world, where human values and respect appear to count for little, and the track is a stand-out as MacLeod reminds us “we all live by the same day”.
‘Minotaur’ is another monster of a track and quickly fills the air with optimism, with atmospheric synths and beats that transfer the listener back to the dance-floor. Muscially uplifting, lyrically the track is dark, honest and as heart-wrenching as you will hear “I’m falling… I’ve got nowhere else to go, I’ve got nothing left to show”. The contrast is gigantic but is executed perfectly creating thought provoking music of meaning.
Like everything in life, timing is imperative and this is music for the summer, dance-floors, festivals, watching a sunset… That choice is your own, but this should be your soundtrack to the summer of 2016.
‘Crestfallen’ is released on 24th June.
Bazza Mills
@bazzamills
Latest posts by Bazza Mills (see all)
- LISTEN: Refuge Island – ‘Above Board’ - May 9, 2018
- GALLERY: The View @ Caird Hall, Dundee, 01.12.17 - December 4, 2017
- LISTEN: Tijuana Bibles give away new single ‘Catacomb’ ahead of St Luke’s gig - December 1, 2017
