Staff Reviews

Graham Coxon - A+E

Review by Billy Hamilton

Despite the quality of the execution, it’s difficult to shake the sense that A+E has been done before.»

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signed copies!! graham coxon returns to parlophone for his new album titled 'a+e'. this is his first release since the acclaimed, acoustic-driven 'the spinning top'. aptly named not only for the sense of scratchy, frantic urgency that suffuses its 10 songs, 'a and e' finds graham continuing with his singular vision as a truly eclectic artist. playing all the instruments and improvising in the studio, coxon found himself preoccupied with lyrical themes around the effects of weekend hedonism in modern britain, on which a e shines an outsider's light, albeit with a mordant, sharp wit. produced by ben hillier, 'a and e' features coxon's distinctive, visceral garage-punk-pop and is inspired by the experimental genres of krautrock and the black and white, post-punk era - bringing to mind artists such as neu! ('city hall'), can and kraftwerk ('what'll it take'), as well as peter hamill, joy division ('knife in the cast') and monochrome set - with hypnotic, driving grooves ('the truth'). this may be the closet graham has ever come to making, in a skewed sense of the word, 'dance' music. coxon describes the album as, 'improvisations, experiments in beats, rhythms. a chance to uninhibitedly make some sort of perversely sad, danceable and funny and despondent songs.'
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