Alexis Taylor – Paris In The Spring

Alexis Taylor is one of the UK’s most distinctive singer-songwriters. A singular voice, he’s built a substantial body of solo work over the years. Paris In The Spring is his most revealing album yet, baring sentiments both specific and universal. The subject matter doesn’t shy away from hard-hitting themes, but musically, it’s carefree, brightly-lit and contemporary, drawing on elegant disco-house, voluptuous basslines and Vangelis-inspired soundscapes. Testament to his skill as a curator, he’s called on some impressive personnel to help create its effervescent sound world: Air’s Nicolas Godin, The Avalanches, Lola Kirke, Oli Bayston, tienne de Cr cy, Elizabeth White of Pale Blue and Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside, to name but a few. In this world, the confessional style of country is charged by the pop melodicism of Paul McCartney, the futuristic funk of Sly and the Family Stone and, as Taylor puts it, “synthesisers left out in the rain”.