Will Simpson – Tapes from a Trailer

Taking a mixed bag of ideas and productions, the new one from Will Simpson feels perhaps more like a collection of great ideas than it does one cohesive album.  Moving across moments of dark trip hot (Take what is yours and Gigatronic Message), and into elements of gothic, electro, rock (Arc Angel feels like it could be a B side from Depeche Mode’s Songs of faith and devotion), with layers of acoustic and metal on the side (the acoustic, Stone Temple Pilots feel of Ugly on the outside is a particular favourite) Simpson gives us plenty of insights into the strings on his bow, but perhaps one of the missing strings is the ability to batch ideas and sounds together.  It may be an distant reference, but Tapes feels close in spirit with the Michael Hutchence solo album; lots of darkness, (whether that be electronic or instrument-based), lots of great ideas and production, just missing a solid structure.