Tom Jenkinson has been moving jazzwards for a while, with releases such as his Solo Electric Bass live recording and the broader-based Hello Everything shifting away from the computerised sample-bricolage approach of his earlier albums.
Here, he presents himself as the leader of a band, Shobaleader One (which, as with the notional "group" of 2008's Just A Souvenir, may exist only in his imagination) on nine tracks marked by auto-tuned vocals and a numbing affection for the kind of wheedling jazz-rock synth riffs favoured by the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It starts out okay – Plug Me In is bubblebath techno-soul, and Into The Blue has a pop consciousness akin to Röyksopp – but the album's latter half is awash in stompy jazz-rock noodling and leaden fuzz-synth riffing, reaching an unbearable Gothick cacophony on the concluding Maximum Planck.
DOWNLOAD THIS Plug Me In; Into The Blue
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies