Swimmer One - Dead Orchestras

Shirking expectations multiple times, Swimmer One are as difficult to pin down as a greased-up eel with a mysterious past. What starts in a vaguely disco-Editors vein (if Editors were less pompous and more marvellous) ends in Blue Nile territory, spun around roughly midway by Here’s Your Train, Safe Home’s gentle, wheezy ballad. The trio’s bubbling creativity is best encapsulated by twelve-minute opus The Fakester Resurrection, which starts woozy with cider (its piano-backed spoken-word recalling James Yorkston’s Year of the Leopard cut) then blossoms with strings, only missing a step during a ‘mobile phone ad’ section of disembodied introductions over piano fills. Andrew Eaton’s Scots Bowie voice acts as a compelling anchor throughout Dead Orchestras, and there are similarities in approach and results to Super Furry Animals’ eccentricities (Ghost in the Hotel sounding particularly Radiator-like). Their diversity yields the odd dud amongst the triumphs, but their tech-packed noir-pop is frequently remarkable, glowing bright with intelligence. [Chris Buckle]