Mull Historical Society: Us

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * *)

This week's terribly clever one-man band is Colin McIntyre, who hails from the Isle of Mull (hence the name).

He impressed many with his Beach Boys-sized symphonic pop ambitions on his debut and would seem to be up to pulling off the same trick twice on this, his sparkling sophomore effort.

There are stacked harmonies, lush strings, cascading pianos, sighing tunes, weirdo bits which suggest Syd Barrett or Phil Judd in full flight, frazzled electronics and a maritime weather forecast - and that's just the first song, The Final Arrears.

By the time you've got to the final and title track, McIntyre has painted quite a mural. Along the way he's borrowed a bit of Unchained Melody for Am I Wrong, echoed English Settlement-period XTC on Oh Mother and, elsewhere, done a Verve-ish ballad on Don't Take Your Love Away From Me and gone all Pixies-ish surf-rock on Live Like the Automatics.

Throughout he keeps the string-section busy and never strays far from his piano stool.

It has some duff tracks along the way, mostly denoted by titles such as Minister for Genetics and Insurance M.P. and Clones, but it's largely a terrific album, showing that fertile pop imaginations can germinate in splendid isolation.

Label: Blanco Y Negro