Rebel Peasant - The Walls of the Well

Rating: * * * *

As the Phoenix Foundation's sticksman, Richie Singleton has much to do with conjuring up the swirling pop and psychedelic journey that the Wellington band come up with in their music. And from listening to the instrumental magic he's harnessed on his debut solo album as Rebel Peasant, which incorporates dub, electronica, classical, and sonic experimentalism, you get an even better indication of where the Foundation's trippy side might come from.

The elegant Little Swann has a dub chink to it and while Singleton's meandering and woozy melodica doesn't quite have the same gritty impact as the late great Jamaican producer Augustas Pablo, alongside the sleepy beats and lush electronics it still makes for impressive listening.

But the album truly comes alive with the sashaying centrepiece and title track, The Walls of the Well, before the pastoral, electronic, baroque folk of Affair At Fabyan, which is most in-keeping with his peasant moniker thanks to its mix of dramatic and frail strings, and plaintive piano.

Singleton's fellow bandmates, including Samuel Flynn Scott on clarinet and Will Rickett on synth, pop up on many songs here, as do other Wellingtonians like Toby Laing (Fat Freddy's Drop) on cornet and baritone horn and Tom Watson (Cassette) playing a majestic trumpet on the quietly agitating Eraque.

There's nothing fallow in this field of dreams.

Scott Kara