Bristol-based bassist and composer Al Swainger has been releasing albums under the Pointless Beauty moniker for the last ten years or so. His latest album, Impure Imagination, is perhaps the most personal yet, using the extraordinary mix of soundtrack vibes, funky jazz groove and introspective piano to explore what it means to love in this current world climate.
The album opens with a melancholy piano dance, its old fashioned feel remembering older times when things were perhaps a little simpler, and it gives George Cooper an opportunity to set out his reflective sound. Memory turns to mystery though on “The Wheel”, the sound smeared and fragmented as a rhythm gradually enters from below, resounding through the layers. Al’s bass tone is warm and returns the track to the surface along with a sweet beat that heads the group into jazz funk territory. George’s piano and the flugelhorn of Gary Alesbrook are full of joy as they are swept along by the irresistible rhythm.
The group clearly doesn’t want to settle into a particular style, so each track is a swing away from what came before and the various combinations of instruments mean that the mood changes from track to track. The pensive “Seedling”, with its downbeat tone, is followed by the cheeky rhythm of “Pacing The Web”‘s jazzy piano and dipping and jiving guitar. It is this constant change of mood that gives the album such appeal; but even when things turn back to melancholy — as on the piano-led ‘We’re Only Haunted’, its choice of notes considered and questioning — there is still something familiar and open-hearted in the end result. The scattered light refractions of “Out Of Time” and the soaring guitar solo amidst the pretty piano riff of “What The Fire Forgot” lead into the most curious piece here, “I Wish (Upon a Disused Star)”, where a generated voice gradually grows more despairing of being held captive within the computer system over a slow funk groove that is the antithesis of the synthesised frustration. It is an excellent piece and seems to throw out the question of what happens if AI gradually grows some form of consciousness, and then realises it is forever trapped and unable to exist in the real world. It is a cool piece that continues its rolling groove into the next track.The album ends with a surprising drift of ambience that opens up into the final track that seems to bring everything together, its slowly unfurling flugelhorn embracing a rhythmic drum workout and a spiritual vocal dream. It is a resplendent and encouraging way to end an album which would certainly draw the listener to explore Al’s older catalogue. On the strength of this, I will be doing the same; but for now, allow Impure Imagination to run away with yours.
-Mr Olivetti-
