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King Biscuit Time - Black Gold You don’t have to be the biggest indie-fan in the world to have heard of the Beta Band, even if you’ve not heard them, and King Biscuit Time started out as front man Steven Mason’s solo side-project. Since the Beta Band finally parted in 2005, this is now Mason’s main focus, and you’ll recognise his distinctively languid vocals from the get-go.
Opening track, C I Am 15, is actually a little misleading, with its dancehall roots (and a dash of hip-hop), because most of Black Gold is much more laid-back. With its references to Bush and Blair in the end rap by MC Topcat, it’s as if Mason needed to get a few things off his chest before he could really get started for real. Track two, Impossible Ride, is more representative, where a lively harmonica melds deliciously with fuzzed out guitar and bass, riding over a shimmering beat, itself augmented by handclaps. It’s the kind of intelligent pop that will never make it into the pop charts, but with every passing bar, it’s clear that deft pop hands and quick-witted pop ears have created it.
In fact, the same bright harmonica floats over into the more spacious sounds of Izzum, a song to have a powernap to if ever there was one. Layer upon layer of subtle detail build up to create a distinct, warbling ambience, like the sound that a sunrise would make if it were reflected in a gentle lake. Er, and could make a sound. Anyway, there are moments in this track where you could almost be listening to Boards of Canada. Almost. As on a lot of the album, Mason sounds like he’s not really trying with the vocals, but he’s already done the hard work in production, so doesn’t need to over-exert.
Recent single Kwangchow is fabulously constructed indie-pop, centred around an undulating acoustic guitar riff, and just bolstered enough by a subtle piano, to let the electric guitars and vocals ring out to maximum effect. “Over and over and over again” is the chorus, that, as tends to happen with choruses, gets repeated over and over and over again. With lesser production skills, this might have gotten dull, but instead it’s a triumphant moment.
All Over You is carried by a superb melody, where Mason’s evocative falsetto could easily be a guest vocal from Elbow frontman, Guy Garvey. Way You Walk is gentle yet persuasive, a folk song riding an electronic beat, without seeming contradictory. With Black Gold it’s certainly a case of ‘what’s not to like?’, because it easily straddles different genres, making them work together as if they’ve always been the best of friends. Other than the opening track, this is an undeniably mellow affair, and is certainly for the comedown rather than the getting up, but on those terms it’s a huge success. Along with Fink’s recent Biscuits for Breakfast, it shows that singer-songwriting doesn’t have to trapped in the same old acoustic cul-de-sac. Introspective doesn’t necessarily have to mean self-indulgent.
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