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Planet UK [Release date 11.22]
The Mel Outsider Reformation’s ‘Miss Victory V’ is an excellent album full of uniquely original songs, Mel Outsider’s cinematic phrasing and his band’s musical swagger.
Its a musical arc that spans rock, soul, funk, rhythm and blues, and Americana.
That said, the unsuspecting listener has to tap into an eclectic retro tinged humorous style as part of a left field aesthetic which extends from expressive, but sometimes oblique lyrics through to the striking art work of the album cover.
It took me a couple of glances of the press release to realise who The Mel Outsider Reformation is.
The last I heard of Adrian Melling (aka Mel Outsider), he was fronting the impressive Outsiders UK, who disappeared from view after a well received ‘Everything’s Turned Vintage’ album in 2016.
The major difference between the new ‘Miss Victory V’ and the previous project is the big production here, which perfectly frames both Melling’s colourful narratives, peremptory phrasing, his baritone vocal textures, an ever present ironic humour.
There’s also bass playing M.D. Matt Pawson’s booming arrangements on which the ten strong band (including 2 vocalists) sparkle.
6 years on from his last project, Mel is still apparently in the thrall of all things retro, as evidenced by the title track alone.
Then there’s his particular attachment to Lancastrian folklore, as he strikes a successful balance between the past and the resent, all gloriously amplified by the afore mentioned production.
He almost cast himself in the implausible role of a Lancastrian early career Springsteen, with a lyrical Americana underbelly and post-Spector, enveloping wall of sound.
Producer Mark Jones, whose credits include Peter Gabriel, Cat Stevens, Patti Smith, The Blue Nile and Wishbone Ash, brings out both the best in Melling’s phrasing and the band’s musical abilities.
The opening ‘Disley Blonde’ sets the lyrical template for an album that requires you to have some geographical knowledge of Melling’s North West background.
Colne’s finest conjures up colourful characters to match his nuanced word plays, while his phrasing owes much to the late Alex Harvey, and to a lesser extent Ian Hunter, sometime in the same song!
The joy of this album is the organic way in which everything underpins his vocal delivery. He sometimes sings behind the beat and thinks nothing of exaggerating a phrase to bring out full its lyrical meaning.
Melling is song craftsmen, who even 30 years after his initial Outsider’s project, sounds fresh and full of creative vitality.
This is particularly so on ‘Remake Remodel’ which appears at just under the half way market, and when paired with the soulful ballad ‘More Than A 3 Chord Wonder’, provides the anchor to a free flowing and stylistically diverse album.
The 13 song, hour long set is occasionally illuminated by unexpected lyrical nuggets, such as on ‘Remake’ when he sings: “Got a new set of brushes for your water colours,” while on the Dylanesque sweep of ‘3 Chord’, he hits bull’s-eye with “Like a boxer that won’t quit, still searching for one last hit.”
And while it would be easy to interpret such a line as applying to his own career, this album is full of ideas and musical zest that finds his unfettered creativity matched with a joie de vivre that sets him apart from some of his punch drunk contemporaries.
Andy Morell’s baritone horn driven title track exemplifies Melling’s lyrical connection with the past, as Mel raps over a very funky number full of marvellous bv’s and stellar sax and organ interplay.
This is one of several thrilling musical moments when the band stretches out to bring out the best of the material.
That said, the notable exception is the closing percussive funk of the Ramsey Lewis influenced ‘Bad Boogaloo’, which flatters to deceive. It builds up a head of steam reminiscent of Supersonic Blues Machine, but then finishes all too soon.
Melling’s vocal versatility also leads him to a couple of spine tingling duets with Hayley Gaftarnick and Ellie Coast.
‘Queen of the City’ for example, boasts the quite marvellous half spoken, half sung opening line: “I’m donating my liver to radical science, but I’m still rolling along like a reconditioned appliance,” and then clears the decks for Ellie Coast’s vocal retorts.
And though Melling inevitably dominates proceedings, the whole band is the glorious sum of its parts. They positively percolate on ‘Real Go Getter’, rock out on ‘Knock ‘Em Up Jack’ and jam out imperiously over Karl Francis’s powerhouse drumming on another irony filled track called ‘Education’.
‘Miss Victory V’ is well crafted album with both lyrical and musical substance. As such it offers more with repeated plays, whether via a musical motif or a lyrical twist.
The hypnotic ‘Misty Coloured Hotel’ is the touchstone to the album as a whole. It cleverly marries the faded grandeur of Melling’s narrative with musically speaking, the exact opposite.
Overlooking the occasional titular eclecticism of a song like ‘Bikini Diet Plan’, the moments of contrast provide flinty dynamics and plenty of spark on an exhilarating ride, the very thing that makes for a great rock album. ****½
Review by Pete Feenstra
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