Tarragon is the signature name of Coventry-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Callum Neil Pickard.
The artist is known for ethereal indie-electronica and has collaborated with members of Tame Impala, The 1975, and The War On Drugs. His album `Home At Cofa`s` is released to the world this week and was funded through a series of very public-facing jobs, such as a Covid tester, Deliveroo cyclist, and now a postman.
The album opens gently with `Dice` which sounds like a tape being run backwards with vocals shared atop that are maybe about the unpredictability of a potential relationship or indeed life. Shara Nova is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who records as My Brightest Diamond and shares vocals on `Kiss Me On The Line` which addresses the inner doubts and questions that arise when deciding if something is truly right for you. It`s a delightfully delicate offering that really mirrors the uncertainty felt. John Waugh (touring musician with 1975) also joins on this track, along with The War on Drugs’ Dave Hartley (bass), Robbie Bennett (electronics), and Bobby Hawk (Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Taylor Swift) who plays strings.
`Tucked In Despair` opens with a strummed guitar and some brass tones and becomes more dreamily electronic as it evolves. A song of longing, vulnerability, openness, and desire which details the feeling of a relationship getting deeper and becoming used to the everyday feelings of that love. This song is bolstered by a brass section performed by Bon Iver’s CJ Camerieri (flugelhorn, French horn) and The 1975’s John Waugh (tenor saxophone). Additional percussion is performed by JT Bates of Big Red Machine as well as James McAlister (The National, Sufjan Stevens, Gracie Abrams). We have a brighter indie pop song with `Blueprint` which reflects the first stages of blossoming love. Tame Impala drummer Julien Barbagallo drives the track along with a cadenced pulse like drumbeat.
Title track `Home At Cofa’s` has breathy vocals and is fairly reflective possibly about where the singer grew up underpinned by a synth tone. A drum machine guides us into `Catching Full On` with more brass tones and may be about being overwhelmed. `Reel Lives` is pretty ethereal with brass and orchestrated strings and i`m sure I read relates to the singer`s time when employed as a covid tester while `Cold To The Bone` really shimmers and feels quite illusory.
`Recover Your Light` has a fragility and is quite ghostly with whispered vocals and orchestrated strings that seem to be about recovering from a romantic breakup. There`s a much more jazzy vibe at least in the opening to `MDM` before it veers into a meditative electronic musing.
There are splashes of brass throughout the instrumental `Small Colt Leader` which begins with piano keys, a quite absorbed composition which blends into `Hail Hollow` with its strummed guitar and soft vocals before a brass section joins on this nigh on folk like submission.
The fittingly titled `It’s Time We Go Now (Trading Hearts)` closes out this compelling forty minutes of thoughtful musical soundscapes and life come relationship views, reflections, and echoes. I read that it’s a record about belonging; how you fit into a city (inspired by Callum`s Coventry hometown) that sometimes feels like the wrong shape, how you move through life trying to adapt and grow with others, and what the notion of home means anyway.
The title appears to have its roots in the name of Callum`s hometown as “Coventry” likely originated from `Cofa’s tree`. Although nothing is known about Cofa himself, it is believed that a tree either planted by him or named after him could have marked the centre or boundary of the settlement.
There was much to enjoy on `Home at Cofa`s` but it needs time to set aside and listen as it`s pretty intense and overwhelming and i`m sure will reveal more each time you return to listen. I live less than twenty miles from Cov and have never heard of Tarragon so this introduction was a pleasant surprise and I still have his debut release ‘I’ve Just Seen A Scene’ to explore.
If you enjoy the Indietronica, electronica come indie/dream pop of artists such as Owl City and Sufjan Stevens you`ll love Tarragon.
Rating 8.5/10
