Words: Gareth O’Malley

So apparently Maximo Park aren’t even on a break at the moment. (They’re actually working on new material for album number four.) Most solo artists choose a point when their day job is on a hiatus or something similar (see: Bloc Party, Snow Patrol, Travis etc.). Not so for Paul Smith. Not content with coming up with ‘Quicken the Heart’ last year, he has been squirrelled away for a while since his ‘other project”s third record came out, penning songs for his debut album, which is now finally ready to be unleashed on the world.

Anyone expecting, well, anything on here to sound like his usual work will be left quite disappointed. There’s not much of that present on ‘Margins’: ‘Our Lady of Lourdes’ could be called a more restrained take on Maximo material (and maybe, at a stretch, ‘Strange Friction’ too), but this is altogether a more introspective listen. It’s clearly influenced by a break-up of a relationship, so the shift in sound makes a whole lot of sense.

There’s one element of signature Smith that remains, however, and that’s his ability to craft erudite lyrics. Most frontmen would struggle to work the word ‘denouement’ into their material, but that’s exactly what he manages to do on ‘Improvement/Denouement’. Sometimes, however, he eschews the wordplay and linguistic dexterity he’s become known for to create simpler lyrics, like those that feature on ‘When You’re In The Bath’, where he’s ‘resisting the temptation to look through the crack of the bathroom door - though I’ve seen it before’.

It is the intimacy present in songs like this that gives ‘Margins’ its own voice. It is sometimes more upbeat than a record dealing with this sort of topic would expect, such as on the strings-laden ‘I Drew You Sleeping’; others, strikingly sparse, many songs consisting simply of Smith’s guitar and his distinctive, accented vocals (album highlight ‘Alone, I Would’ve Dropped’); but always intimate, with the listener invited into the narrative as it is spelled out for them. There is nothing too mundane; every line present on the album plays its own part.

‘Margins’ is often quiet, always unassuming. It’s not the kind of record that trades heavily in bombast, but takes on a character all its own through its cohesive nature and well-crafted songs. This is an interesting venture, and one cannot help but wonder what, if any, of it will be incorporated into his band’s next album. It’s an intriguing prospect, to say the least.

7.5

mp3: North Atlantic Drift