Review Summary: Stick With The Band.
After being in a band for several years, releasing solo material can be a daunting and intricate task. Duncan Lloyd however, seems to have relished such an opportunity with his first solo album, ‘Seeing Double‘. The Maximo Park guitarist has certainly proved on this record that he does have the ability to not only be the main man behind the guitar but behind the microphone as well.
However, even though the album shows Lloyd’s capability to belt out a tune or two, the album itself is not a number one masterpiece. The word variety is lost in this record and each song seems to sound just like the next. Lloyd has made a giant wrath of repetition, encased the tracks in different titles, then changed a few notes here and there, so that each song sounds like it has variation, no matter how minuscule the actual change is. ‘Seven Letters’ and ‘Make Our Escape’ are a prime example of the slight differences the album’s tracks has to offer.
The best song on this album has to be ’Suzee’, a whimsical and mischievous love song, with a swelling chorus and up beat tune, that could prove to be the hidden gem, within the grey stones. Another song that actually sounds distorted from the rest is ’Misfit’, a explosive and energised track with hints of Maximo Park’s sound and proving the abilities that Lloyd has already shown us with his trusty guitar. Both songs are embedded within the mundane structure that is this album and could prove a lifeline that could save the album from complete and utter failure.
Lloyd has clearly gone for a more improvised and raw sound in comparison to the polished and structured tunes we have come to expect from the boys in Maximo Park. ’Seeing Double’ is a certainly a poptastic album and may appeal to the James Morrison and The Feeling’s fans more than anyone else because of the quirky and melodic tracks the album has to offer.
Lloyd defiantly shows that he has both the vocal and guitar ability there, but he is lacking creativity, a main ingredient for any successful artist. ‘Seeing Double’ is not going to even come close to the sales and success of Maximo Park or the popularity. It will be at best a gracious sideline to the bands material, but it will defiantly not match it or even challenge it.
By Emma Quinlan
