Maximo Park’s Paul Smith is riding solo once again with his new LP Diagrams out October 26th, 2018 through Billingham Records. Smith’s approach has a history in 90s music with a base of lightness and digest-ability along with detailed storytelling lyrics. Pieces of his inspiration came from Lemonheads, while you can hear flickers of the Gin Blossoms and Smashing Pumpkins.
The first song on the album, The Public Eye, offers uplifting music pulled together with a shot of sax and paired with lyrics that criticize the UK’s Hostile Environment Policy. Silver Rabbit is all romance and melancholy propelled by speedy guitars. The Beauty Contest is a lullaby for the last one awake, and Critical Mass is a quick-witted philosophical conversation over a light drum beat.
Diagrams is easy listening with a complex twist. It’ll challenge ideology and take you deep into Smith’s romantic daydreams before you’ve finished your morning coffee.