Nick Frater is a Croydon based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer who has recently released his latest opus `Bivouac` a gapless album which embraces a determined collaborative spirit, he unites with seasoned melodic‐rock musicians including Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Beck/Jellyfish), Luke Smith (Ulysses), and Joe Kane (The Poppermost), seamlessly meshing these talents with authentic Radiophonic tape effects, Mellotron textures, and Pink Floyd’s original Dark Side of the Moon synthesizer. It`s the artists eleventh album and encompasses twenty three tracks which he describes as a concept album about the downfall of post-industrial Britain under successive generations of Tory government. The protagonist deciding the only sensible option left is to live off-grid in the woods.
The opening salvo `Wake Up Sleepyheads` is less than a minute long and is a frivolous reflection on a global mindset of glibly following what we are fed. The rot appears to set in on `The Town of Opportunities (Parts 1 and 2)` where a realisation of the central character`s situation is beginning to sink in. The track is a delightfully dreamy melodic almost retro tinged number.
`Mean Vincent` has a kind of cinematic air about it before we slip into `The Town of Opportunities (Part 3)`which is in essence a continuation of the previous `TTOO` prequels.
`Hello Monday!` a tale of a nine to five existence has a kind of ambience that I thought only power pop band Squeeze could create. We enjoy orchestrated strings and an occasional timpani drumbeat during `Keep It Simple, Stupid` a delightfully mesmerising almost introspective musing. `Heaven It Can Wait` is a rhythmic melodic earworm of a number about gerrymandering and the left`s ability to steal defeat from the jaws of victory. A song about working in a zero-hours gig economy and being remotely monitored follows with `Sixteen Houses` which has a further dreamy pop like quality about it.
I really enjoyed `Will It Be Enough?` a kind of inner reflection on love while `Don’t Get Sentimental` had an expansive nigh on chamber pop ambience and relates to the tensions that financial and employment problems can impact on a relationship. The latter part of the number sadly signals towards a “marriage of convenience.”
`Closing Time` is a tale of foreclosure bankruptcy and despair as our central character considers other opportunities. Although musically it`s a pretty intricate listen which opens with piano and vocals before veering into a much more mediative almost hypnotic trace like aural soundscape. A track about economic policy arrives with `Boom and Bust` and it`s pretty melodic soothing and tranquil which is almost at odds with its subject matter.
`Man Overboard` is a country tinged number that kind of reflects the malaise associated with the track`s title. We return to `The Town of Opportunities (Part 4)` which has almost entered my subconscious by now and has me tapping along. `Step Into The Motorcar` has a sense of relief about it, a road song almost, as our hero has arrived at a decision and opted to escape the modern world. There`s a sense of vastness about the instrumental `Manifesto Man` which does have a prog like texture about it.
`Leave It To The City` has a perception of a multi edged sword with liberation, frustration, and anticipation almost palpable as our leading light heads off into the great wide open or unknown. There were some wonderful guitar riff solos throughout this pacey number.
`Little Sister Moon` is where our subject feels relaxed enough in their new environment to sing to that lunar planet lit up in the sky each night, but has it been the right move?? We close out with a gentle, ghost like final reprise of `So Long, Sleepyheads` and it`s left up to us to decide as to our heroes fate.
I have to admit, I’d usually run a million miles away from a concept album. But here it`s more subtle and having previously heard Nick Frater`s work, he could make an album of the phone directory sound like something Bert Bacharach and Bian Wilson would be envious of.
The title `Bivouac` may refer to the poem “A Psalm of Life” written by American writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, where he compared life to a bivouac, a temporary encampment used by the military. A didactic poem which is meant to inspire its readers to live actively, and neither to lament the past nor to take the future for granted. But that`s the beauty about this forty odd minute delightfully created auditory landscape which has power‐pop, and orchestral‐pop melodies with lyrics that allow the listener to create their own interpretation.
For me, Nick Frater is kind of the UK`s modern day answer to Brian Wilson, invest in `Bivouac` and decide for yourself.
Rating 9 /10
