There was a time when most rock-driven instrumental albums were the blood, sweat and tears of the bands oft overlooked keys man. They were usually long, protracted affairs, offering no small assortment of ideas and time signatures, but very little in the way of actual ‘songs’. And then there was the other side: the Rick Wakeman school of epic – the tower-block concepts, the sprawling orchestra, the cast of thousands – the faintest whiff of overproduction concealing an absence of genuine substance.
Then came ambient. Then came chill-out. And at last the unobserved keys man was for the first time in history faintly relevant.
Doves keyboard player, Martin Rebelski releases his debut, ‘Thanks For Your Thoughts’ this month proving that it really is possible for a characteristically rock artist to pursue a credible career in dance. Not the kind of genre hopping Damon Albarn kind of dance – but something a little more chill, and a little more leftfield.
Out on Heavenly Records, who released the similarly misty and delectable ‘Chiffs, Chaffs and Willow Warblers’ by Minotaur Shock a few years back, ‘Thanks For Your Thoughts’ is a delicate half-hour of generously tinkling pianos, children’s toys, warped string instruments, nervous xylophone patterns, and heavily gated percussion.
Pretty, moody, eerie, husky, dippy, nice. One parts fairytale to two parts nightmare.
Not to be consumed by Dove fans but by everyone.