A rich musical journey comprising eleven songs, Madrid channels the chaotic charms of the Spanish capital where Nev has recently relocated.

"I love the way life works here. It's organised chaos. Walking the neighbourhoods of Lavapiez and La Latina you begin to see how everything is perfectly balanced...how to eat, how to party and then how to relax! It's perfection. When it all gets too much I run away to the English countryside"

Side A cut 'The Ring' calls to mind Cowboy In Sweden era Hazlewood while that Mustang bass, scratchy guitars and cool 60's drum fills invoke Serge and Vannier for ' Silver Screen' and title track 'Madrid'. Scott 4 is obviously a touchstone and Nev has never been one to hide his reverence for one of the greatest albums of all time. Seven minute wonder 'Under The Skin' channels Walker's brooding lyrical majesty while long time collaborator and producer Mason Neely brings Phil Spector madness to a disorientating string arrangement. Violas, cellos and violins swoop and merge in a hallucinatory finale to side A.

Side B includes the 60's pop of 'A Million Years', a string quartet ode to the mysterious Angela' and 'Johnny Ray'- a driving Morricone tale of a 'Leather clad stranger/God's lonely man/A modern day Lone
Ranger The album begins and ends on a reflective note as instrumental 'Maps To The Stars' guides the listener into Madrid's kaleidoscopic world while the Waits-like lullaby 'All's Well That Ends Well'bookends the journey
with soft piano and cello tones. Spending time in M(adrid we encounter a lust for life's undeniable, intangible magic.

TRACK LISTING

1. Maps To The Stars
2. Renunciate
3. Silver Screen
4. The Ring
5. Under The Skin
6. Madrid
7. Johnny Ray
8. A Million Years
9. Angela
10. Lost Love
11. All's Well That Ends Well

Caught somewhere between the rain-drenched streets of Manchester and the sun-beaten deserts of America lies Nev Cottee’s third album Broken Flowers. A deeply cinematic, string-soaked album rich in atmosphere and brooding ambience. Its origins however, began in India, with Cottee trying to leave rainy-city heartbreak behind.

“I hate the English winter. Really can't stand the grey days. So I shipped out to India in January 2016. I found a place and set up a simple studio to demo out there”. Rising at dawn each day the ideas began to flow and quickly enough 20 new songs began to take shape, “Maybe the new surroundings helped - getting out of my comfort zone, getting away from all the shit one accumulates at home".

The songs, even in sparse demo form, captured the plaintive tone of Cottee’s vocals slowly unfurling in emotional waves - the gentleness reminiscent of Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce but with the rich warm resonance of Lee Hazelwood. Cottee then took the songs to Wales to work with previous collaborator and producer Mason Neely (Lambchop/Edwyn Collins). Neely brought in some classical musicians, “cut away the flab” and pushed the songs to their extremes - the producer's intuitions and abilities clearly trusted by Cottee, “On the album notes it says 'Mason: Sounds' and that's him in a nutshell. He brings so much to the table and gives the album it's sonic identity - I can't give him a bigger compliment than that.”

Whilst the finished album hums with quiet beauty - dense swirls of ambience hanging in the air as elevating strings cascade through - there’s also a darkness, “Although I recorded during the day this is a night time record. It’s dark and introspective. I find that juxtaposition hugely creative. The night in India can be quite a foreboding place. Me and a mate would make late night excursions inland - into the heart of darkness. Not quite Apocalypse Now but enough to take you out of any semblance of comfort. We saw some strange things, weird village ceremonies, people biting snakes' heads off... the songs represent a physical and mental journey.” 

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: Mojo have likened Nev to a bedroom Ry Cooder, and you can see what they mean on this album. The songs have a sparse, atmospheric, desert soundtrack feel, albeit drenched in rainy city melancholy. Lovely stuff.

TRACK LISTING

1. Asunder
2. Open Eyes
3. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
4. Be On Your Way
5. Nobody's Fool
6. Tired Of Love
7. When The Night Comes
8. The House Where I Live
9. City Lights