Pianist MacGregor (she of the trademark, Stevie Wonder-style clattering hair braids) came within a single vote of winning the Mercury Music Prize in 2002 with her album ‘Play’, a compelling, retro-modernist hybrid of minimalism, boogie-woogie and chamber music.
Now, after the eclectic orchestral project ‘Neural Circuits’, this LP sees her embrace ‘quiet music’ with worldly saxophonist Andy Sheppard. It follows a series of visits to the US south and sees her perform trad gospel standards along with hymnal versions of songs by Tom Waits (‘Georgia Lee’, ‘Picture In A Frame’), Bob Dylan (‘Ring Them Bells’) and Johnny Cash (‘Spiritual’). Co-producers include Will Gregory from Goldfrapp and Seb Rochford, and the songs are linked by ancient blues samples and field recordings. Weaker tracks (like the proggy version of Nick Cave’s ‘The Mercy Seat’) are marred by some horrid fusion pyrotechnics, but it really works when both talents show restraint: when MacGregor provides ambient rumbles or Keith Jarrett-ish chords behind Sheppard’s slow, breathy melody lines, it can be exquisite.
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