Duncan Lloyd (Maximo Park / Nano Kino) has announced a new solo album, Outside Notion, along with a video for the record’s first single Young Dreams, in what makes for a fresh and definite lean away from the indie-rock he is known for.
“Young Dreams is a song about temptation and being taken in with the idea of a place that isn’t all it promises to be, it’s about young voices not being heard and a battle with what is imagination, and what is not. For the video, I wanted to create imagery I hadn’t seen or tried before, mixing colourful animation with moving footage, drifting through trees and city streets, then to a gig in a bar, and perhaps there’s a subconscious sideways nod to ‘Take On Me’ by AHA.”
Deep down it is a very human record, about our flawed nature, our temptations, loneliness & limitations. What comes to the fore on Outside Notion is Lloyd’s grip of engaging composition and his ability as an individual songwriter is growing into something truly special. The weightiness of certain themes is balanced by a weightless abandon of the arrangements, showing a deep complexity to his work. This is easily his most adventurous & soulful record to date.
“On this album things have taken a little more time to process, i wanted the dots to join and for it to work as one piece, each song being a window into something deeper. Be it in the form of mental escapism or loss for example, admittedly it’s not always clear what I’m channelling but it felt right to follow what has been bubbling under for a while. In turn it made greater sense of the writing process & where I can take it. Ultimately, I like that there is still a sense of ambiguity in these songs, not everything needs to be spelt out or to make immediate sense as life isn’t like that.”
The record was recorded by Lloyd himself, joined by Tom English on drums and mixed by Dave Maughan. Outside Notion is an album of dark elegance, exquisitely realised, assembled from organic sounds and songs that bypass the road of slick production tricks, it is a captivating and emotive listen.
Outside Notion is out May 24th.
