Following the critical success of 2007’s A Brighter Beat and an improbable bid for the Christmas number one slot with We’re All Going To Die, Malcolm Middleton is back to business with a new, stripped-back-record. Sleight of Heart includes Malcolm’s version of Madonna’s Stay, alongside 2 other covers and 6 original new songs.
Comprising tracks written during the Brighter Beat sessions and a handful of cover versions, Sleight Of Heart bookends what Middleton describes as his 'boo-hoo/way-hey! period', using up all the leftovers and tying up the loose ends. 'I'd like to do something different next so this kind of forces my hand. For once I've nothing prepared or ready to fall back on,' he says.
Initially conceived as an acoustic LP – and largely remaining so – the album was recorded at Chemikal Underground Studios in Glasgow. Malcolm’s recording band (featuring Mogwai’s Barry Burns on piano, ex-Delgadoes man Paul Savage on drums, touring bassist Stevie Jones and Jenny Reeve on backing vocals) joined in when he 'got carried away'.
'I suppose this album is a reaction to the production of A Brighter Beat, which I love, but I felt it was time for something quieter,' says Middleton. 'My songs are usually written on a guitar so this way they are closer to the original form.'
There’s plenty to cherish in the nine new tracks here. Opener A Week Off has the wonderful line 'I’ll write a good song just give me more time, it’s easy hating yourself it’s hard making it rhyme,' and is surely the only tune to name check Fleetwood Mac released this year. Elsewhere, Love Comes In Waves is what Middleton sarcastically describes as 'over-blown Glasgow indie-pop', Total Belief finds Malcolm contemplating his 'unworthiness' – a common strand in his solo work – and Blue Plastic Bags is a brilliantly observed song about British drinking culture.
'Surely everyone understands the longing / despair / contentment / self-contempt / confusion in this song,' says Malcolm. 'As a nation we're all drinking too much. Not the binge drinking of the '90s but the sneaky innocent couple every night. If the fridge is empty at 9:30pm, you start sweating and run out to buy some for 'just in case’.'
The covers on the album are fairly unpredictable. Here, a tortured version of Madonna’s Stay rubs shoulders with a lively take on King Creosote’s Marguerita Red and Jackson C. Frank’s Just Like Anything. Stay is an old favourite of Middleton’s, while Just Like Anything is beloved by his girlfriend, 'So I thought I’d ruin it for her,' he says.
It all amounts to a captivating record from a man who’s fast becoming one of the UK’s most cherished – and prolific – artists. While you enjoy this one, Malcolm’s already beavering away on his next full-length release, with mixed results so far.
