English multi-instrumentalist Adam Irving once again reinvents himself on his new album Frisky. The blues and electronics that were at the forefront on his previous one Old New Blue are still there, but now he has added jazz, progressive rock and avant-garde to the equation. Recorded between 2016 and 2026 he felt that this material fitted together nicely to make a cohesive collection that is tied together like a collection of short stories, with a few instrumentals acting as linking pieces.
He used a Yamaha Resurface CP synthesizer, Fender Jazz bass, Theremin, MC-101 groove box, Fender Strat, custom Telecaster, Korg Volca synthesizer, and Akai Mini MK3 keyboard. He is not a great drummer - he says so himself, but his limitations don't get in the way of the feel. His lo-fi DIY approach gives the tracks both an urgency and intimacy that would be lost in a "proper" recording studio.
Irving has a knack to pick a subject and go in at the deep end to make sense of it, be it the evasive nature of sisters who are there but not there, grappling with the German language or being in a flux about a piece of garment that was promised to be gifted to him but never made it to his home somehow. He fell in love with California, but once he made another trip to the golden state found that the magic had gone - memories can be a bitch after a reality check.
Frisky is a self-released album (CD, digital). Buy it from his website.
Tracks:- See
- Sisters
- German Language
- Frisky
- California
- Once In A Fever Dream
- T-Shirt
- I Remember
HCTF review of Old New Blue
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