Album Review: Tensheds - "An Intimate Portrait Of Crazy Beautiful"

 

Matt Millership aka Tensheds is someone who's proved over the past decade or so to be one of the UK music scene's great unsung talents, most recently with his excellent lockdown album, 2020's The Days Of My Confinement. An Intimate Portrait of Crazy Beautiful is actually a re-recording of his second album (Crazy Beautiful) with the songs being presented in a more stripped down form. As someone who actually got into Millership's music through Crazy Beautiful's follow-up The Dandy Punk Prince, this had the potential to be an interesting trip down memory lane.

The two main touchstones that spring to mind listening to these songs in this form are Tom Waits' ragged barfly laments and the stripped down feel of Nick Cave's excellent The Boatman's Call. Millership, accompanied by just his piano, takes the listener on a nocturnal journey through the streets of late noughties London on the likes of Go Out On The Weekend, Angel Of London and Sentimental Streets and it's a truly captivating experience. Elsewhere, City of Dreams bubbles with a wide-eyed optimism and Flying Cars is a wistful look at childhood dreams unfulfilled. Each song contains a spoken word intro from Millership which adds to the atmosphere and almost makes it feel like you're listening to one of those "an audience with" sessions with him.

An Intimate Portrait Of Crazy Beautiful is a truly spellbinding album and is the sort of thing you can happily lose yourself in for an hour and be transported away into Millership's world for an hour. Definitely recommended.

Bandcamp Link

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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