I sometimes wonder if Antifolk had been invented in London if it might have sounded much like this, because  Shaw sounds so very Southern to my ears, which have presumably been slowly Tartanised over the last few years.  He plays acoustic singer-songwriter type material, as a basis, but then there is all infected with hiss and crackle, the odd bit of wheezing electronics, and a tangible sense of defeat.

Crucially, what he seems to have a knack for is creating a very low atmosphere, almost as if the album were suffering from SAD, and then using either piano, sudden picks of guitar or a witty turn of phrase to pluck a little peak in the smothering blanket of melancholy.  In other words, he’s consistently able to just lift the mood, even if only slightly, before it all becomes too much of a burden.

This stops the record being a self-pitying or a self-indulgent exercise in maudlin introspection and gives it a gentle sense of self-deprecation, with a nice twinkle of humour, and in doing manages to give The Pox real charm.

It’s a surprisingly layered record actually.  Not all the time, but there are real swells of sound here and there, which also serve to break the spell and lift everything briefly into something like an explosion of sudden relief in a murky day of nervous tension.  There are few concessions to pop, though.  The EP ends with the ten-minute title track, which is hardly the punchiest way to draw everything to a conclusion. It’s a weird decision, but one which I rather like, and it sort of serves to emphasise the resolutely idiosyncratic nature of this release.  It’s strange, but it is what it is, and it’s not budging to appease your sensibilities.  I look forward to a full album, assuming that’s where he intends to go next.

Benjamin Shaw – 12,000 Sentinels

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Benjamin Shaw – When I Fell Over in the City

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