Maxïmo Park front man Paul Smith returns with his fourth album, Diagrams, released through Billingham Records. From the anthemia of his debut solo outing Margins (2010) to the exploratory minimalistic jazz of his Peter Brewis (Field Music) collaborative album Frozen By Sight (2014) and the spirited, guitar pop record that was Contradictions (2015), Diagrams sets its stall out as a vivid and complex album that binds the obscure and the everyday, searching for romance under stones that not many songwriters would think to turn over...

Paul Smith's latest release, Diagrams, sees the artist mutate and grow his sound without alienating his long term fan base. These 11 songs (38 min, 17 sec) are diverse and engaging, charting a course into the yearning, melancholic jangle-pop of The Go-Betweens, while being drawn to the literate, grunge-pop of The Lemonheads.

From the first play through there are songs that stick with you almost immediately. These include the Cheap Trick-esque opener 'The Public Eye';'Syrian Plains'; 'John'. It's only on subsequent listens that you start to appreciate the strength of some of the more subtle tracks.

This will make an engaging and worthy addition to your music library.

8

Nick Smithson