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Casiotone for the Painfully Alone Etiquette Released in 2006 8.8/10 Styles Lo-Fi Singer/Songwriter Electronic Pop Song Highlights New Year's Kiss Cold White Christmas Don't They Have Payphones Wherever You Were Last Night? |
Finally, the first record of 2006 to get me genuinely excited. I was already familiar with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (aka Owen Ashworth) from his excellent 2001 release Pocket Symphonies for Lonely Subway Cars. This year sees the release of Etiquette, his fourth solo album of heartbroken, sometimes darkly humourous pop. The music covers a small range of styles, but on most tracks the deep, resonant piano and distant strings take precedent. Additionally, there are moments of minimalist mood-setting effects, not to mention a handful of tracks with Postal-Service-style, jitterbug electronica. There's also the frequent presence of jaunty, electronic percussion, driving the songs along with a poppy sensibility that often contradicts the relative seriousness of the album's subject matter. The recording technique is quite strictly lo-fi, with Ashworth's deep, slightly monotone vocals being handled with the style's typical feeling of immediacy. Ashworth has taken a small step up from absolute lo-fi, though, with several touches of dense instrumentation, but these remain so fuzzy and distant that the result is still undoubtably stripped back, albeit not quite to the bare essentials. There are a number of guest vocalists included on Etiquette (there are several tracks where Ashworth doesn't even handle lead vocals), and while this can detract slightly from the sense of personal intimacy which is central to the lo-fi recording technique, their vocal turns remain highly enjoyable in their own right. However, some may find it hard not to feel like their inclusion seriously dampens the bare emotion of the album, preventing Etiquette from being the one-on-one masterpiece it clearly had the potential to be. The entirety of Etiquette's dozen tracks clock in at a mere 30 minutes, with most tracks being 2-3 minutes long. Ashworth's compositions are noticably minute, and on some tracks the lyrics can be blunt and brief to the point of sounding like momentary thoughts set to music. However, writing Etiquette off as being lyrically underdone undermines the power of Ashworth's songwriting, and his fantastic ability to squeeze complex emotion and poetic eloquence into succinct two-sentence statements. For example, his take on isolation, paranoia and deceptive relationships is summed up with the quirkily depressing "I stayed up, until it was bright / Dont they have payphones, wherever you were last night?" Etiquette is fast becoming a personal favourite for 2006. Ashworth's strong songwriting and creative musicianship make it an excellent, emotionally impactful release, which is definitely well worth your time. In particular, fans of stripped-back, quirky introspection (think Stephen Merrit, Microphones, etc) are likely to find a lot here which pleases them. Check it out, and then buy the back catalogue. This guy seriously deserves the extra exposure. Highly recommended. |