Steve Mason rewards the boys outside the mainstream

First album under his own name impresses

It’s coming close to a decade and a half that we’ve been listening to Steve Mason in all his different guises and all we can say is wow, that long? Certain things in that time have dragged but piecing together how long it has been since The Beta Band first came to prominence has seen another landmark of the aging process being planted in our mind.

‘Boys Outside’ is the first record by Mason to be released under his own name and the pre-release critical response has been positive.

One of the things that appeared to be surfacing in recent weeks is the similarities between this record and some of the work on The Three EPS’s. Frankly, we can’t see it beyond the vocalist and some feel of the song-writing, which is surely what you would expect anyway?

The album doesn’t have the driving percussion feel that the EPs did, neither does it have a song that soars and takes the listener away. Mind you, we don’t much of the things we did 12 and 13 years ago, so why sound anyone expect Steve Mason to do the same?

Right, we’ve got that out of the way and if you all want is a rehash of what’s been done before, we don’t see it…but for everyone else, this is a pretty sweet album.

It’s a moderately paced record which is the perfect showcase for Mason’s restrained delivery and

Lead single ‘Lost and Found’ was the obvious track to launch the album with. It is just a little bit punchier and upfront than most of the other songs and will be a great way for people to get into the record.

What we do know is that repeated listens are going to be the key in this record. It’s good on first listen but even after a few hearings, things are starting to appear adding to the overall layers on show.

‘Yesterday’ is a perfect example of this, offering up a tempered tribal electronic backing but the stabbing piano fills start to take centre stage as the song unwinds. ‘All Come Down’ is another song that although laid back is carried away with the vocal delivery and then the dub-light breakdown.

And that’s the impression you get from the record, you can spend a lot of time filtering down through the layers to see what else lies in store.

It may well be that we come back and review this album in a week or two when its had more time to be enjoyed and dissected but after a few listens already, the fact that we’re planning on keeping it on rotation should say it all.

Steve Mason…let him in!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.