Fyfe Dangerfield: Fly Yellow Moon

4 / 5 stars

Fyfe Dangerfield's band Guillemots make adventurous songs that throw in not just the kitchen sink but associated plumbing as well. His fabulous solo debut is the opposite, though. Recorded in just five days in a little studio, two songs are mixed by Bernard Butler, but otherwise the material is barely produced and raw. Dangerfield was in love and wanted to capture his euphoria as nature intended, and far from being schmaltzy, it's hard not to be swept along by his ardour and emotion; because the songwriting quality is so high, the tunes have an immediate, instant feel. When You Walk in the Room is a Waterboys' Whole of the Moon-type anthem. Other tracks echo early Lilac Time and even Hunky Dory-era Bowie, as Dangerfield varies the mood. Indeed, Barricades' sublime request of "Don't go away" has a certain hard-to-pin-down melancholy, and it seems these tunes weren't enough to keep his muse, who has apparently since dumped him.