Graham Coxon - Love Travels At Illegal Speeds (Parlophone)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
That Graham Coxon is a lot of things that Blur are not is hardly even up for debate, but perhaps the most recently notable of these disparate qualities is that he's become startlingly prolific, mustering three albums in the time it's taken the lads he left behind to conjure one, disregarding for the sake of ease the one with the cartoon monkeys. But as the speed of his output has increased, so has its quality. Mr. Lo-Fi now makes albums that sound bafflingly huge when placed alongside earlier, charming, largely acoustic solo efforts, pulling out all the stops, never shying away from an impassioned howl or the opportunity for a six-string solo that will nail all in earshot to the nearest wall. Graham, ourselves, and guitar music in general are all the better for it.
Whereas his previous excursion in long playing form, the breakthrough 'Happiness in Magazines', had the instantly loveable singles to its name and a few pointers as to where Coxon could head in future endeavours, 'Love Travels...' isn't anywhere near as instantaneously rewarding. What allows it to surpass its predecessor is the depth and clarity of the ideas, the subtlety of the composition here, and in the likes of lead single 'Standing On My Own Again' and the remarkably ambitious reclusive thump of 'I Don't Wanna Go Out', the two greatest pieces of music Graham's ever been solely responsible for.
Still somehow, like everything he's tried his hand at alone thus far, there's a feeling that this is more of a transition as a record than somewhere he'll eventually set up camp and call home. Pointers are abound as to what makes Graham carry on adoring music, that continuing search to find the perfect middle ground between outright dissonance and the greatest pop song ever written. 'Love Travels...' sees him indulge both ('You & I' and 'Tell It Like It Is' owning choruses to die for, 'You Will Always Let Me Down' little more than an exercise in ardent shouting) with equal success. Whilst some will be justified in missing the rickety, all too honest charms of his earlier work, the rest of us can savour this other piece in the puzzle as to precisely what sound Graham Coxon eventually wants to make, and hope that one day, for all our sakes, he really nails it.
Artists in this article: Graham Coxon
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