"Spider Skin" is taken from the forthcoming debut album "Effigies". It is a deceptively cheerful sounding psych pop song. Actually a little too cheerful, with a deranged edge, and a bitter lemon twist in the lyrics. It satirises the way in which being manically busy all the time is proudly declared and worn as a badge of honour by some people. Seemingly a fear of death by coming to standstill! But not in a Holier than thou, high horse riding way, as unproductive, unimaginative laziness is just as horrible an extreme. It is shot through with all sorts of spangly, sparkly sound effects. The sound effect at the end is reminiscent of the horrible noise killer robot cowboy Yul Brynner made in "Westworld" when he was closing in for the kill on his victims. Combined with the insanely cheerful closing vocals it makes for slightly unsettling listening.
A free bonus track called "The Phoenix of Albany Road" is a far quieter, more reflective song with fingerpicked guitar, mellotron strings and a very mournful lyric about the onset of autumn, being cut adrift, the ghosts of Cardiff Bay, and creative obsession.
Review by Mark Barton at The Sunday Experience 4th September 2017
This will be coming out ahead of his debuting full length ‘Effigies’ as Nathan Hall and the Sinister Locals. Pulled from that aforementioned set, ‘spider skin’ gets its moment in the sun. A seafaring mysterio amid whose crew the ghosts of XTC, William D Drake, the Cardiacs, the Soft Boys and Syd Barrett sail.
Released as a digital download single, over on the flip you’ll find the simply irresistible ‘the phoenix of Albany Road’ vying for affections. As Summer fades and Autumn’s bracing chill lurks on the horizon, this cut warms perfectly, chiming the arrival of the long nights.
Beautifully rubbed in lush baroque symphonies, there’s a touching cosy toned and sleepy headed vintage attaching here as to suggest it had merrily waltzed from a Dickensian wintry setting.
Such nostalgia purrs heartily through its enchanted chords as it weaves affectionately to a festive courtship imbibed on lost folk shanties and teased in the lilting pageantry of the late Greg Lake. Exquisite.
marklosingtoday.wordpress.com/2017/09/04/nathan-hall-and-the-sinister-locals-4/
released September 4, 2017
"Spider Skin" written by Nathan Hall. Music by Nathan Hall and the Sinister Locals. Produced by Frank Naughton.
"The Phoenix of Albany Road" written by Nathan Hall. Recorded at The Sinister House.