Nick Frater

Bivouac

Think Like a Key Music

This concept album is loosely about the downfall of the UK under successive Tory governments. The protagonist goes to live in the woods to get away from it all.

All of this is rendered as cinematically as possible. This would make a good action film, maybe not necessarily heavy drama, as there is satire here, but a film like Sorry To Bother You. 

The lyrics are more joyous than the concept would suggest, and it’s not hard to smile at some sincerely happy ones, like the Steely Dan quote on “Hello Monday!” (“lay down the jam till the girls say when,” from the Dan’s song "Josie").

The music is mind blowing. Frater is a multi-instrumentalist, as is everyone he plays with here, and a lot of people play on it. Everyone from Brian Wilson, Squeeze, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, and many others are influences.

In short, it's a delightful album, and even if you don’t know a lot about the UK government, it’s not hard to get the concept. It’s fun and a joy to hear, not dark or disturbing, more cutting, which adds to the fun that it’s one big put-down of the Tories.

Andrea Weiss