This is the second solo album from the founder member of 80s art popsters ‘The High Llamas’ and ‘Microdisney’. O'Hagen seems content to drift on the margins of popular taste with an obvious affinity towards gentle chamber pop rather than noisy Rock'n'Roll.
Guitars are present but never to the fore as O'Hagen plays piano and synths with backing musicians playing harp, violin, trumpet, trombone and cello.
There's a light, tongue-in-cheek quality with many songs sounding like maverick show tunes. Three tracks are co-written with Microdisney partner Cathal Coughlan who also contributes guest vocals on the album.
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It has the feel of a concept album although there's no obvious link between a track such as The Paykan (Laili's Song), set during the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, and the rest of the record.
Too much of it strays into twee-ness, for example in the too cute by half On A Lonely Day (Ding, Dong).
Ultimately, it's one of those records where you need to be on the artist's same wavelength; a disadvantage for yours truly as I am definitely tuned into a different frequency.
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