Barry Adamson

Somewhere between Dan the Automater, Ennio Morricone, and Leonard Cohen, lies Barry Adamson. Over a wide-ranging career as a film composer, a founding member of both Magazine and Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds, and a solo artist, his music has continuously looked to the future. However, Back to the Cat, Adamson’s 7th record, finds him looking to the past, gaining inspiration from some of his favorite artists from the past 50 years.

Not that Adamson is aping anyone on this record; you can hear strains of Elvis or Jacques Brel, but it remains unmistakably Barry Adamson. Just one track, “Shadow Of Death Hotel,” manages to seamlessly stitch together the sounds of a guitar and flute from a ‘70s funk song, Jackie Mittoo’s keyboards, the horn section from the Mike Hammer theme, and some Butch-Vig-ish fuzzed out guitars. By the next track, he’s on to channeling Al Green. Other touchstones include Curtis Mayfield, Leonard Cohen, Serge Gainsbourg, and more.