Gallery - Pocket Lint

By Daffs aka @TwoDaff

The beauty of writing reviews and listening to new music in general is that there is always something new, it introduces you to new artists, new sounds and more often than not shows you what you are missing out on. I love it when an artist or band that you haven’t really listened to gets in touch with their music. Especially if its something a little bit leftfield or different, it opens your eyes and ears and highlights the fantastic creativity that is out there.

So, I was intrigued and delighted when Mark Heffernan aka Pocket Lint got in touch with a request to give his latest album a listen. But first a bit of background.

Pocket Lint is the genre-defying musical vehicle for former Remodel guitarist Mark Heffernan. Creating vignettes through the medium of music, Pocket Lint will draw the listener into a vivid world full of noir imagery and kaleidoscopic shifts in style. Using synths, pianos, guitars and found sounds, referred to as ‘aural bonbons’, bringing in sounds that others wouldn’t. Pocket Lint paints in sound.

Soundtrack to an imaginary film ‘Themes for Silcaville’ realised this vividly, by conjuring mages, sights and sounds from the silver screen of the imagination. Whilst working on Silcaville, Pocket Lint participated in the successful REM covers project, which was endorsed by the band: ‘A Carnival of Sorts’, curated by God is in the TV.

Silcaville was then followed by 'EP4', an aural investigation of colour, which was his first release through Deliberator Records. The next offering was the album ‘A Grey Opaque’ and this is now followed by the release of a collection simply known as ‘Gallery’ on April 7th.

An individual work of art

Each song is based on an individual work of art, and taken as a whole they guide us through an ever-shifting musical journey of a dream like gallery space with no one definable genre of sound, except the unmistakable focal point that is Pocket Lint.

Released on Deliberator Records The album opens with ‘Atrium’ a brief introduction to the journey that you are about to begin, there’s an ambience that hits you straight away as synths flutter and gives the impression of space as the words ‘Enjoy the exhibition’ are spoken…

Pulsing electronic rhythms

‘Motorboot’ has a colourful piano rippling through the mix with a deep vocal with added spoken lines swirling behind the vocal. It has a vibrancy within the beat, harmonious and rich. 'Die Dame', it has a definite synth pop feel, reminiscent of Tears for Fears in my opinion. This track is full of complex melodies, pulsing electronic rhythms overlaid with colourful synths give a light and almost airy feel. Random beats make it captivating whilst the mixed vocal adds another layer.

Intriguing and immersive.

"At first there is nothing…” opens ‘Yves Kein Blues’ A deep, rich intense track, that has an almost foreboding atmosphere, an air of tension builds as the lyrics are spoken to the backdrop of orchestral synths, it has a deep resonance which is both intriguing and immersive.

Rivulets of colour ring out

'Wet Afternoons' is up next and a picture is painted vividly, sitting by the window as the Spring rain runs down the pane, little rivulets of colour ring out and create a warm feeling, its not a downpour, more of an April shower. 'Lentils' has a percussive feel, reminiscent of a Glockenspiel, short and direct and a brief pause for thought.

A colourful palette

As you enter the next track ‘Automat’ a gentle track, acoustic guitar and synths create a blend of warming tones, melodic and rich it’s a colourful palette allowing the vocal to take centre stage. 'Girl Descending' follows and the album takes another turn, a different sound, for me it has an 80’s ‘New wave’ vibe.

Melodic splashes of colour

Nest up is the cinematic 'Nocturnal Bombardment', dark and foreboding it’s a heady blend of low deep resonating tones with lighter melodic splashes of colour that add atmosphere. 'Gravelines' evening follows ‘We’re both Drowning' and 'Dust Motes' and is the final track, opening with a beautiful piano backed with flute like synths, with a gentle flowing breeze in the background its light and refreshing and is a fitting end to the album.

Visual art in sound

Pocket Lint (Mark) hasn’t just created an album here, its visual art in sound. It’s an audio/visual journey. Its highly inventive, the blend of synths and his ‘Aural bon bons’ along with the mix of vocal and spoken words add a different element. You feel yourself immersed in the journey as the waves of sound carry you through.

You can’t put it into one genre, it is many genres fused into a sound that is complex, distinctive and very appealing. Elements of 80’s electronica, classical, new wave even progressive rock all feature in some way, the fun part is picking those elements out. I don’t think you can class this an album per say…it is an experience…and a very enjoyable one at that.