A Dundee-born singer-songwriter whose records balance melancholy with a dry sense of humor.
For a good sense of his balance, try 'A Happy Medium' or 'Break My Heart.' They capture that thoughtful, understated melody thing he does.
His debut album in 1999 had that long, telling title '5:14 Fluoxetine Seagull Alcohol John Nicotine,' which pretty much announced his raw, confessional style from the start. Songs like 'Death Love Depression Love Death' and 'Solemn Thirsty' lean into gloom, but there's a wry quality in the writing that keeps things from getting too heavy. He's mentioned Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen as influences, and you can hear that in his lyric-focused approach across folk and electronica touches.
After that 1999 debut, he put out records like 'A Brighter Beat' in 2002 and 'Waxing Gibbous' in 2015, working with Aidan Moffat on vocals for the title track. There was a drug possession arrest in 2004 that led to a brief break, but he returned to recording soon after with albums like 'Into the Woods' and 'Heron,' quietly evolving without much fanfare over two decades.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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