david lance callahan: english primitive ii

The follow-up to 2021's first volume, English Primitive II continues the themes introduced previously in a harder, more electric and psychedelic style. The songs were mostly recorded during the same sessions but, if EPI showcased the "songs of innocence", this new set comprises "songs of experience". David Lance Callahan's lyrical themes here are frequently the sleaze and corruption of our "betters", the intentional and unintentional brutality meted out on those weaker and the sometimes perverse ways in which this happens. There are moments of reflection among the broken mirrors, but they allow scant solace or reassurance. Dressed in another of Scottish artist Pinkie McClure's witty and detailed stained glass creations and recorded at home and under a railway arch, EPII rises above its origins and invades the wider world, in all its color, grit, and glory. Each song serves as a monument to its internal tale -- in fact, the whole album is as much a collection of musical short stories as it is an album of songs. Opening with "Invisible Man," the impression of a regular person with hidden grievances, biding his time and waiting to lash out is given. Waves of distant samples ebb and fall as the warped guitars swell and crash behind the main themes.