"Pick Me Up" by the Silver Wye

If like me you enjoy the music of Wes Finch you have already heard, maybe one of his solo albums, his work with the (Rude) Mechanicals which I reviewed only yesterday or even his interpretation of the work of others, then you'll be as intrigued as I am by his latest project, the Silver Wye whose debut single "Pick Me Up" was released on 11^th November. A collaboration with The Milking Parlour Recording Studio, Warwickshire and co-written with Leo Steeds (who I assume plays the keyboards on the single), I noticed that Soundcloud was struggling with the ever elusive game of "name that genre", offering "electronic rock", "dream pop" "city" "moog" "relationship" and "moody" as tags. Which certainly defines it (or rather doesn't) as impossible to categorise easily: which is greatly in its favour.

So what is it? Well it's certainly atmospheric & much more electronic than Wes' usual arrangements but nonetheless there is a consistency with the rest of his body of (solo) work: mature lyrical concerns which relate to relationships indeed and possibly the frailty of human interactions and emotional intentions. Wes describes it as "a song about two nobodies and the anonymity of the city" which I think is the starting point: the icy soundscape evokes the alienation that cities can induce but is it really a metaphor for a more general alienation which can exist as much with individual inclination as geographical situation?  Possibly.

It's a most interesting track & addition to his body of work though & the idea that you need to make of it what you will is an intriguing challenge I rather enjoyed. As I did the song.