Calculation error: How much time has passed? Review – A Wonky Delight With Shades of Arthur Russell and Rupert Wyatt | music

A A decade ago, Londoner Alex Berenger sparked interest in the nightclub circuit with his eccentric style of dance music. Structured around striking time signatures and wry tales of unfulfilled lovers and misplaced pills, its tracks referenced everything from UK funky to new wave and sea shanties. Then came several years of near silence – now broken by this self-released debut album, How Long Has It Been? The record acknowledges this fracture not only in the title, but also in its sound. On first listen, it couldn’t sound more different from Berenger’s early works, those dissonant constructions now replaced by the warm patchwork of Rhodes’ electric piano and ostensibly serious sentiment. But traces of this deviance linger in this collection of bedroom pop songs.

The record takes winter as its subject, though it seems appropriate for this transitional time of year, with its stories of introspection and dodgy weather set against soft, simple arrangements. There are a handful of subtly wonky elements that keep it from seeming overly polished or silly: before-and-after slips in reference to the “fateful bong”; On the dreamy duet Two Lovers, glitches punctuate the shimmering keys and mysterious guest vocals. Elsewhere, the strings swirl on the Black Keys, one of many wonderful, forlorn instrumentals.

Left-field flourishes and the use of echo call to mind Arthur Russell of the Echo era, while tracks like Water of Life and I’m Not Me channel the sombre, quiet drama of Robert Wyatt. As with these musicians, much of the magic here comes from Berenger’s delightfully out-of-tune vocals, which oscillate between registers. On the peppy title track, he sounds like he’s on the verge of a breakdown when he comments on his ex’s new baby, before undercutting it all with an affectionate dig. Even at his least serious, these songs are full of emotion.

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