by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

It’s hard to believe that this is Kim Deal’s first full solo album. She has hinted at music on her own since 2011, when she recorded Are You Mine? and Wish I Was, composed after her contribution to The Pixies’ ‘Lost Cities’ tour. Deal is an original Pixies member, playing bass guitar from 1986 to 1993 then reprising her role in 2004. Simultaneously she has fronted The Breeders, from their founding in 1989.

The album has a plethora of collaborators, from Breeders past and present (Mando Lopez, twin sister Kelley Deal, Jim Macpherson, Britt Walford), to Raymond McGinley (Teenage Fanclub), Jack Lawrence (Raconteurs), Savages’ Fay Milton and Ayse Hassan, and Steve Albini, who recorded a good deal of the record.

What’s the music like?

Full of depth, and with the odd surprise.

Deal has a slight husk to her delivery, her voice an instrument that can move between intimate, heartfelt asides and more brash statements. The big band blast of the title track is a case in point, where the bold brass complement her softer thoughts.

There is a most enjoyable wit and mischief to this album, too, delivered in the catchy Coast – not just in Deal’s voice but in the rasp of the accompanying trombone and slide guitar. The polar opposite of this are the slow songs Come Running and the heart-melting Are You Mine?, where serene strings tug at the emotions and Deal asks to “Let me go where there’s no memory of you, where everything is safe and nothing is true”.

On a more psychedelic tip are Crystal Breath, layered with distorted thoughts, the garage rock call to arms of Disobedience, and the boomy Big Ben Beat. The album ends with the winsome Summerland, with “music blowing in the breeze”

Does it all work?

It does. Deal’s versatility between styles makes for a tightly structured album, compressed but full of expression, emotion and musical twists and turns.

Is it recommended?

Definitely. Kim Deal’s solo debut is well worth the wait, containing a wealth of good music and letting us into all aspects of her world. One of the albums of the year for sure!

For fans of… Cate Le Bon, The Breeders, The Pixies, Joan Armatrading, Sonic Youth

Listen and Buy

Published post no.2,385 – Friday 6 December 2024