Playing this, I can’t help the feeling that I’m turning up at someone’s house when he least expects it.  It is cold and dark, he seems a bit sleepy, but he is scurrying about, trying desperately to tidy up, stuffing dishes in the bookcase and books in the dishwasher. ( Or is he trying to hide something?  What exactly have I walked in on? Is my way back out still clear?  Make excuses.  Back up slowly.  Back up a bit quicker.  Slam door, run.)

“Standing On A Hummingbird” seems to be trying hard to bury something where no-one can find it.  Mobile phone interference scrawls upon vinyl crackle layered on digital glitch.  Initially I thought this may have been to disguise a lack of substance – nothing sounded finished.  A guitar tunes up.  Someone fingers a violin but doesn’t really begin to play it.  One hand claps.  Things were just kind of, well, ummm….oooh, look at the time…oh, yes, not really getting to the point.  After a few listens I really began to enjoy the Pole-isms (“Roots Growing”, mellotron), the Fennesz-isms (“From Verse To Verse”, bleached guitar), and the near-incategorisable electro-acousticisms in the middle.  There is a consistent spring-like mood to the work; birds wake up to herald the first shoots, these scraps of inchoate melody, as they burst through the covering of frost. 

I’ve always been a bit quick to damn people when I first meet them – they are either dull, potential mass murderers, or just about acceptable.  But life is too short, I always think; if I was to give everyone and everything a proper chance, I’m not sure how much time I’d have left (and in any case slamming a door sometimes feels just so satisfying).  Sometimes I may well miss out…fortunately not this time.

You can listen to album standout “From Verse To Verse” here.  Go to the Anticipate website to download a free Mark Templeton EP, of which “Goodbye To You” is but one of four tracks.  Purchase the album here.