Graham Coxon - 'The Kiss Of Morning' (Transcopic)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
If this is the soundtrack to a post-Blur existence, on first glance, things are looking pretty bleak. Sure, there's the upbeat title and a sparkling Graham watercolour on the sleeve-artwork, but just look at some of these titles; 'Bitter Tears', 'Mountain of Regret', 'Song for the Sick'... Graham, what's up, buddy..?
Well, not a lot, it seems - or at least not any more anyway. This record is the sound of a heavy weight being lifted off a bespectacled guitar-god's shoulders. Whilst the rest of Blur jetted off to Morocco with Norman Cook presumably to make some kind of big-beat, African football record (possibly), Graham sat down in Camden with pedal-steel legend BJ Cole, pianist Louis Vause and a bunch of analog recording-equipment making easily his finest solo effort to date.
It might have upset a large number of dedicated followers, but wasted time it was not. Hardly a lot has changed on his fourth effort, it's just that Coxon now performs similar tricks, but with bags more conviction. The aforementioned opener 'Bitter Tears' morphs brilliantly from folk-y Nick Drake to Dinosaur Junior-like feedback (thus making it the perfect GC solo-piece), Graham's voice sounding stronger than on anything he's ever previously recorded; it's even equally as charming as any of his lo-fi dabbling, but due to the opposite reason... For a man who's just broken up with his daughter's mother, left arguably the most important band of the 90s under a cloud of mystery, and spent time in rehab overcoming alcoholism, he sounds remarkably confident.
Confident enough, in fact, to write something as brash as the excellent 'Escape Song', the recent single arrogantly thumping along as well as anything on 'Modern Life Is Rubbish' ever did. 'Baby You're Out Of Your Mind' gives yet more feelings of security, Graham warning critics that the end of whatever relationship it is in question will simply make him stronger.
Though this is not to say there aren't moments of doubt - a beautiful but harrowing 'Live Line' seems to be a very anxious man's musings on suicide - but even when not filling you with contentment Coxon still carries it all off with alarming self-belief and, at times, malice. Need an example? Listen to 'Song for the Sick' if you dare; whoever the 'scum-sucking, shitty guy, two-faced f**king fake' (blimey) is that inspired the song, beware...
However, as with each Coxon album so far, it's not all pure gold. Some of it is hit and miss - 'Locked Doors' taps along nicely enough without ever threatening to do very much, whereas on 'Mountain Of Regret' Graham unexpectedly reveals a straight-up, sitting on the back porch country and western tune. Though these are merely minor quips.
Judging output by someone with a reputation such as Graham's in its own right is a near impossible task. His influence in his past incarnation will continue to be huge, but now we have a new spring of Coxon-magic to drink from, and with 'The Kiss of Morning', it's finally strong enough to inspire a fresh following of its own. And, no, it's not a Blur album - but it might well give the next effort by his ex-colleagues a run for its money.
Artists in this article: Graham Coxon
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