Before I write a word for this, it must be known that while Malcolm Middleton is still half of the quite notable Scottish post-folk Arab Strap, I have never listened to them before. So it's your call as to whether that puts me at a disadvantage for having no context within which to place In The Woods or at an advantage for coming to this LP with no expectations... but, fuck it, I'm gonna review it anyway. One thing's for sure; after hearing Malcolm's second solo album, I definitely have to look that old shit up.
At first listen (which is usually while reading or watching sports highlights), I figured this to be a fairly happy, bubbling release and, hence, probably trite and boring. But gradually, as I was drawn to pay more attention, the grim reality of this LP began to take shape. While the music is consistently upbeat, similar to the style of Badly Drawn Boy, the lyrical subject matter is based around the bleakest throes of depression, usually as a result of women or a lack thereof. However, this is not exclusionary of a sense of humor, one that Elliott Smith (gawd bless him) was not capable of. The opening track, "Break My Heart," has Malcolm admitting to and playing with the somewhat frequently-discussed notion that songwriters like Elliott and himself, who create mostly emotional, melancholic, mournful songs, not only lament and use the pain from relationships well for their art, but that they are dependant on it in order to create anything worthwhile at all. This could, and I have a suspicion it already has in many cases, become a self-fulfilling prophecy, leaving these artists victims of their own creative powers, sabotaging any and all potential relationships before they start (Billy Corgan should have quit while he was ahead). In any case, "Amateur" surely makes the short list of this year's most blunt reading of the word "cunt" in indie-folk; there is as much cursing on one M2 cut as there is on any Smith album. I know this much; you've never really heard "cunt" until you've heard it from a Scotsman.
1. Break My Heart
2. Devastation
3. Loneliness Shines
4. No Modest Bear
5. Monday Night Nothing
6. Bear With Me
7. A Happy Medium
8. Autumn
9. Burst Noel
10. Choir
11. Solemn Thirsty
12. A New Heart
More about: Malcolm Middleton
