Barry Adamson has adorned many musical hats through his extensive career, beginning as bassist for influential UK outfit Magazine, then a short stint as one of Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds before eking out his persona as a soulful raconteur of the grittier side of music.
Through ten albums and twenty-five years into his solo career, Adamson is still finding eclectic ways from keeping stale. He still flaunts familiarly jazzy horns and flourishes of piano, most jarringly on the scuzzy rock of “Destination,” but other variations – such as the Grinderman-worthy ‘Black Holes In My Brain’ or the AOR pop of “Turnaround,” successfully extend into interesting rather than irritating.
It’s unlikely Adamson will surpass the noir cinematics meets lounge jazz stylings of his early career, namely Moss Side Story or the acid jazz- curated Oedipus Schmoedipus, but at this point – you suspect he’s no longer trying to.
– Al Newstead
