‘A damaged one-trick pony, whose trick is known too well,’ croons Tim Bowness on the haunted and haunting This Way Now from his eighth solo album. His lyrics have never, across an expansive 37-year musical career, shied from grandiose self-flagellation. But if anybody had him pigeonholed as the master of epic melancholy, they’re in for a shock.
Because Powder Dry is like nothing he’s done before. Perhaps it’s signing to a new label; perhaps it’s just a rush of fresh inspiration. Even Steven Wilson – longtime pal and No-Man colleague – has said it’s the singer’s “best and most creative” album to date, emphasising that, while mixed by Wilson, it was produced and performed entirely by Bowness.
