Tim Burgess - Typical Music. 2LP [ Ltd. 140g Coloured Vinyl - LP1
Transparent Red / LP2 Transparent Blue)
Has there been a busier musician over the last two years? A more prolific artist? More creative? More heroic? Tim Burgess - as self-effacing a band leader, solo star, label
runner, repeat memoirist and all-round caffeinated can-do kid as youâll find - would certainly shrink from the latter accolade. âA hero??â heâd likely mutter with a shake of his boyish mop. âFor playing some records?â
Yes, Tim. And not just because with the May 2020, midlockdown appearance of âI Love The New Skyâ, his fifth solo album, he undauntedly pushed on with releasing an album that brought much-needed sunshine to a world enveloped in gloom. Over the course of the first year of the pandemic, Timâs Twitter Listening Parties were a lifeline to many. At a time when the world shut down, we all retreated indoors, alone, and cancelled gigs were the least of our worries, the North Country Boyâs idea of utilising social media to unite us round a digital turntable was inspired.
Meanwhile, Burgess was writing. And writing. And writing. From September 2020 to summer 2021, ideas poured out of Burgess. Heâd been encouraged by Simon Raymonde, boss of his record label Bella Union - and, of course, a former Cocteau Twin. He applied a musicianâs logic: if you canât tour your last album, write a new one. Then, when you can tour again, youâll have two albumsâ worth of songs to play.
Well, now, arguably, Burgess has three albumsâ worth of songs to perform live. âTypical Musicâ is a 22-track double, a blockbuster set of songs that are as expansive and diverse as they are rich. As fun as they are funky. That embrace heartache and love. That run the gamut, from ABBA (in the shape of guest vocalist Pearl Charles, whose own brilliant âMagic Mirrorâ album is the sound of the magic Swedes doin' disco) to Zappa (free-form studio experimentation is go!).
