About 25 years ago I bought the Symbol Soup box set, nine magazine-like books by two trend watchers about the up-and-coming visual generation at the time. A lot has changed since then, but I really like that the concept of Symbol Soup is getting a new life as the moniker under which UK singer-songwriter Michael Rea releases music. Somehow his full-length debut album Slow Puncture feels like a belated – symbolic – soundtrack to the book: “Pulling up to a new site of destruction // Where I burn just like the bruise // There’s a ransom on your golden days in magazine collage // I’ll be lapping water from a tire in the park let me wait for you // Cause I’m tired of missing cues” (from opening track Dial-A-Dream). You get twelve jangly indie-pop songs, in which folk and rock influences and personal reflections and limitations can be heard. The music is captivating and atmospheric, the lyrics are poetic and appealing: “I dreamt I was in a game show with the prize of becoming human, and that’s been true the whole time” (from Gameshow).
Slow Puncture is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Sad Club Records.
Add to wantlist: Bandcamp