Sultry and ultra laidback albums of original material nodding firmly towards the likes of Serge Gainsbourg and the more blissed out end of the European Sixties film market don’t come better than this in the first half of 2015. Whilst the chap behind Nouvelle Vague is still pottering about doing cover versions in I Declare Nothing two artists with real talent have created the best kind of homage imaginable.

The work’s timelessness is one of its major selling points. Authenticity without slavish posturing and originality minus over-inflated egos, successfully combine to fully realise the aims of the collaborative project. Hearing these ten tracks unaware of what you were being played you’d be hard pressed to say what era actually spawned it.

Tess Parks’ stunning vocals weave a spell from beginning to end on the album, alternately beguiling and matter of factly freeing the listener as Anton Newcombe wraps the whole thing up in layers of lush psychedelic lounge and late-night clubland melancholia.

Self-produced & self-released by Newcombe on his A Recordings label, the benefits of having full artistic control over proceedings whilst work was progressing at his studio in Berlin over the past year or so are readily visible in the looseness achieved and the way the album flows together. Not a single track feels like it would have been better placed elsewhere in the running order.

The music buying public don't need constant re-hashes of the music of times and eras long since past but stylistically those sounds are as relevant as they've ever been, when expertly performed in up to the minute compositions as Parks & Newcombe have created here. Take the time to lose yourself in I Declare Nothing and see where it leads you. 

I Declare Nothing is available from amazon & iTunes.

The latest from Emmett Kelly and his assembled players was assembled on the march. Touring around the place, staying in numerous places both salubrious and less so, impressions were picked up directly and indirectly & channeled into the 11 songs of Goes Missing.

Kelly's fifth album of his own material, Goes Missing is a mixed bag of styles. Starting off mean, moody & magnificent with 'An Angel, A Wizard' there's a familiarity of sound along the lines of Robyn Hitchcock but also elements that are harder to put your finger on. 'Be What You Are', however comes in with enough jangle to make The Byrds jealous but is a short & sweet power pop gem, cut off almost in its prime.

Two songs in then and you already know this is an album you'll be returning to as the signs bode well for short, sharp bursts of lively, energetic fare along with more considered numbers such as the heartfelt 'She Don't Want You'.

It feels like a long time since I last listened to an album such as this. There's an almost timeless quality to the songs though - you can imagine it being the kind of record that the use of one song in a Brat Pack film soundtrack a couple of decades ago would have propelled to brief success, followed by years of solid work in the same vein that only a dedicated fan base would be concerned about once prevailing trends in music had reasserted themselves.

Kelly doesn't give the impression of caring much though and that's another of the strengths of the album - he's able to do his own thing at his own pace so there's no missed opportunities through studio or label pressure. This is great work from a guy patiently ploughing his own furrow and you know that if he does go missing it won't be for good & what he returns with will be equally special. 

Goes Missing is available from amazon and iTunes.