In early August of this year, Geordie Greep announced the official split of The widely Celebrated UK Post Punk Band Black Midi on a live stream stating, “Its Over, No more Black Midi.” as a longtime fan of Black Midi This saddened me but was curious to see the solo work from the band’s members Geordie Greep, Cameron Picton, Morgan Simpson and Seth Evans. After an extensive series of filmed live sets circuiting on YouTube as well as a month-long residency at North London’s Map Studio, it was apparent that Greep had an album on the way. A week After Greep spoke about the split, He announced His Debut Record, The New Sound, as well as the first and only single, Holy, Holy, A song that completely caught me by surprise at first listen and revealed its complexities to me over each and every listen. Following a very similar theme to the rest of the record, Holy, Holy seems to be a first-person commentary on a very disturbed and pathetic individual who is more self-infatuated and misogynistic than one could ever imagine. The Dancy Steely Dan Inspired Track is the backing track for this Character to brag in consumption, only making you cringe and dislike him more as the runtime continues. After watching the videos of his sets from the Map Studio Residency, I was familiar with most of the tracks off The New Sound but was still very interested to hear how the studio recordings would turn out as well as getting some context for the themes and narratives I was hearing in the live recordings and especially Holy, Holy.

After three Critically acclaimed albums with Black Midi, Geordie Greep has become known for his Character driven songwriting, Satirical Humour and Virtuosic Guitar abilities, and those are as honed in and eccentric as ever on this album but maybe not how you would expect. In comparison to his work with Black Midi, this album is more focused on the songs, and aside from your occasional Zappa Esque Instrumental Departure, they are played relatively straight. The eccentric spirit of Greeps Lyricism is at its most jarring, humorous, and at times absurd in The New Sound. Greep sings from the perspective of a Drunk ego-filled Red pill alpha male who is unaware of his ignorance. The lyrical content will raise some eyebrows at first listen, and it is without a doubt very jarring to hear Greep singing some of these lyrics. Within the context of the record, it is very apparent that Greep is examining these sorts of characters as sad and hopeless people who are by no means holding back on their Gross and Ego-ruled intrusive thoughts. “ You have a bigger d**k than any man who’s ever lived, and you can cum more than a hundred Stallions” Is one of the earliest lyrics off the album where you hear the extent of this Character’s ego on the album’s opening track Blues. A song that opens with an unbelievably fast syncopated guitar riff switches into the tension-building bridge where Greep is progressively singing more manic and faster than he’s ever done before. The song is an unsettling tension builder of a track with an unbelievably intense arrangement and some of the most visceral performances off the album. Following the tension from Blues is the incredibly smooth and groovy Terra. It is a song that builds with unbelievable percussion, keyboards, Horns and group backing vocals sung by Geordie Greep, which quickly progresses into Broadway-tinged Grandiosity.

Up Third on the tracklist is the lead single, Holy, Holy, which is followed by the entirely instrumental title track, The New Sound, which is a totally bat-shit crazy Prog rock meets Brazilian jazz track that evolves into a crazy funk jam with some absolutely crazy chord changes and playing all around. Near the end, we hear the instruments evolve into total harmonious syncopation before they quickly transition into Walk Up, another sadistic and ironic track with heavy and unpredictable parts and probably a hundred different chord changes. The song evolves into chaotic heaviness, then swiftly into gang vocals and a light-hearted booze-filled country song. Through A War is an expensive and smooth tune with some very satisfying chord changes that make some of the prettiest instrumental moments on the whole record. The syncopated riff near the end of this song is so fun and creative that I have a hard time getting it out of my head. After this track is the short but sweet Bongo Season. It is a song that is one of the record’s most fluid and rhythmically dense moments and has one of the most epic guitar solos on the whole album.

Motorbike is the intense ballad that sees The New Sound producer and collaborator Seth Evans take vocals on one of the most challenging and, at times, dissonant tracks. It starts as a Scott Walker-esque crooning piano ballad that evolves into a paranoid and dissonant noise rock jam with many quick passages of syncopated melodies and rhythms. Despite the lyrics trailing on the same perversities mentioned previously in the album, the following two tracks, As If Waltz and The Magician, are, in my opinion, some of the most ambitious, challenging and well-put-together pieces of music that Greep has ever made. As If Waltz is a complex yet beautiful song that has some of the most disturbingly pathetic and sad characters in the whole album, as well as the record’s most delicate and beautiful instrumental elements. The Magician is one of the only tracks off the record. It was formerly an unreleased black midi song that quickly became a fan favourite after many energetic performances were posted on YouTube. I’m happy to hear the track is fully fleshed out in a recording and that Morgan Simpson is still on the song playing drums, as I thought their chemistry was at its peak on this track. The song has an incredibly dynamic and unique-sounding guitar progression that drives the main parts of the song, and I think the way Greep structures those parts is no short of genius. The album ends on If You Are But a Dream, and is a theatrical and gorgeous song that fits the grandiosity of the album quite well.

Overall, this album is incredibly complex, and listening to it with an analytical ear is necessary; while I appreciated the instrumentation, the lyrics and themes of the record are interesting yet, at times, come across as a little lacklustre and confusing thematically.

Pre-order The New Sound by Geordie Geep HERE