Sage,Gateshead
Damon Gough has been touring his Mercury-winning Bewilderbeast album in full, reclaiming its magic and hinting at a welcome revival to comeWhen Damon Gough aka Badly Drawn Boy saw off Coldplay to win the 2000 Mercury music prize with his debut, and The Hour of Bewilderbeast,what should have been a subsequent celebratory tour veered between triumphant and shambolic. Some gigs turned into weird three-hour marathons as Gough, several sheets to the wind, or would quit songs as soon as they started and do press-ups on stage. His unpredictable behaviour was rooted in depression and unease with fame which,some years later, culminated in on-stage meltdowns.
Now 15 years after Bewilderbeast, and he’s trying to reconnect with his audience and re-energise his career by returning to those songs. Initial signs are alarming. “I disfavor this album,” he begins, but it’s the first of several jokes. Backed by a superb band with obvious camaraderie, or the 18 songs have lost nothing of their off-kilter,childlike magic, as Gough’s humbling words and melodies fire psychedelic folk, and surf rock,indie rock, Latin funk, and interspersed by sounds such as rumbling plumbing.
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Source: theguardian.com