The Great Escape Festival in Brighton has a lot to answer for. Each year over three days, some 300 bands play showcases across 30 venues. The festival operates in parallel with an industry conference and over the last few years, Mrs JO'B and I go and immerse ourselves in new music, catch up with friends and swig beer. Costs me a fortune in vinyl purchases...Roll on The Great Escape 2022, you have been much missed.
Each year, we have discovered a wealth of bands, some amazing, some ok, some…well, let’s just say they were “interesting”. Jane Weaver was firmly in the first category, and since then I have caught up with her back catalogue.
She began her solo career with support from the great Rob Gretton, manager of New Order, but her first recordings stalled after he passed away in 1999. Having served her apprenticeships in Kill Laura and Misty Dixon, Jane has now released 11 albums, her latest being the marvellous Flock.
That fame and fortune has alluded her is a travesty, but she has gained some mainstream recognition - you will recognise some tracks from her last album, Modern Kosmology which appeared on the soundtrack to Killing Eve.
In simple terms, Flock is psychedelic electronica, though with a more poppy edge this time around - there’s the Goldfrapp-esque glam stomp of Stages Of Phases (when she’s sings “it’s a long way round”, I can hear The Anchoress in her phrasing, another marvellous female artist). Singles Heartlow and The Revolution of Super Visions conjure images of Prince in Heaven jamming with Can on their most poppiest of days.
Elsewhere, Modern Reputation is six minutes of jittery grooves, its request for change (“Want to smash the patriarchy, I’m tired of your industry" seems especially poignant given recent terrible events).
Flock is an electro-jazz workout (much better than that might sound) and Sunset Dreams is angular funk (makes me think of Field Music).
The closing track, Solarised, bounces along, with Human League bass, wonderful 80s hooks and a lyric that I know won’t leave my head for days (indeed I find myself singing “I just can’t see the lines” over and over as I am typing this…
Like its predecessor, Modern Kosmology, I will be playing Flock to death - anything that leaves you feeling positive after such a difficult year is a wonderful thing.
For fans of: Saint Etienne, Stereolab, Field Music, The Anchoress