In the opening thirty seconds of Badly Drawn Boy's latest full-length album, singer/songwriter Damon Gough declares, "[I'm] back to being who I was before." For a moment, it sounds as if he is making a statement about his own musical direction. The minimal production on his vocals along with the peculiar noises that accompany them are similar to the eccentricities that characterized Badly Drawn Boy's outstanding debut, The Hour of the Bewilderbeast, and seem to suggest that he has abandoned the lush grandiosity of the two records that followed it. As both About a Boy and Have You Fed the Fish? were rather hit-or-miss among fans and critics, a return to form would likely be a welcome change.
No such luck. One Plus One is One is a loss of form altogether. It is less a fully developed work than any of Gough's previous recordings. Even About a Boy, a romantic comedy soundtrack, sounds more inspired, and infinitely more cohesive. While each of Gough's prior releases (especially Bewilderbeast) could be described as wildly swinging in style and grand in scope, One Plus One is One is simply a mess. Strings, flutes, triangles, and a heap of claps and other sounds are thrown together with no real purpose or direction. In some cases, songs that may have held their own with just an acoustic guitar are muddled by excessive instrumentation. Gough has always favored baroque accompaniment, but never before has it sounded so arbitrary.
Messiest of all are Gough's melodies. While I've never considered him to be a remarkable vocalist, I've always placed him among the likes of Wayne Coyne and Stephen Malkmus, who may be far from perfect in pitch, but have a clear gift for writing infectious tunes. In his latest effort, however, Gough fails to deliver more than a couple memorable moments. Only the serene "Easy Love" and the anthemic "Year of the Rat" inspire humming after multiple listens. The rest of the album is painfully forgettable. Jejune lyrics like, "And if I knew the answers/ I would tell you now/ Just what would be the chances/ that I could show you how?" are awkwardly forced into lifeless melodies with no fluidity or dynamics. Gough shrugs out his words with all the confidence of a nervous open mic night performer.
If there was one strength shared by all of Badly Drawn Boy's first three albums, it was that they exhibited an artist with a wealth of ideas and barely enough tape to capture them all. To criticize them for inconsistency discounted the value in their unpredictability. Sadly, this time around Gough seems to have run out of ideas completely. One Plus One is One sounds like an attempt to make a more serious statement, but with little substance invested in it. The result is Badly Drawn Boy's first boring album.
1. One Plus One Is One
2. Easy Love
3. Summertime in Wintertime
4. This Is That New Song
5. Another Devil Dies
6. The Blossoms
7. Year of the Rat
8. Four Leaf Clover
9. Fewer Words
10. Logic of a Friend
11. Stockport
12. Life Turned Upside Down
13. Take the Glory
14. Holy Grail
15. Don't Ask Me I'm Only The President
16. Plan B
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