Album released 16/05/2011
Tracklist:
1. It
2. Let's Get Down Together
3. Don't Go Out Tonight
4. All Packed Up
5. Trouble At The Dancehall
6. Deep Descent
7. I Want The Night To Stay
8. FOE
9. Don't Drink The Water
10. Happy Day
11. Welcome Back
12. In The Sadist's Garden
"the sort of music Panda Bear might make if he had a sense of humour. And one of the best voices around in 2010" - NME
"somewhere between Jens Lekman's thoughtful crooning and the classic auteur-pop of Brian Wilson or even Another Green World's Brian Eno." - VICE
"Spookily resonant piano-pop-wave." – THE GUARDIAN
After the idyllic charm of last year's debut single "All Packed Up / Don't Drink The Water" Idiot Glee returns with his first album Paddywhack released on May 16th on Moshi Moshi. 22-year-old James Friley trades in spectral transmissions: multi-layered vocal concoctions that sound like they are emitted from a radio in the past, or coming over an unknown satellite frequency from the future, telling stories about a more idyllic time. Mining an emotional territory between nostalgia and powerful sense of childlike wonder, his rustic arrangements belie a sophisticated sense of melody surrounded by palpable magic and mystery. Hypnotic looped vocal samples come into full bloom around beautifully cathartic, slow-burning choral interpretations, all the while retaining a graceful fragility.
Having trained as a classical pianist from age 7, a teenage Friley found the designated hours of practice quickly gave way to writing and improvising his own solo piano compositions. Having more of a pop sensibility the songs didn't fit the repertoire of budding rock band 'Bedtime' and hence Idiot Glee began to take shape. The discovery on cassette of Pet Sounds in a flea market in 2008 proved a pivotal point. "I listened to it probably 100 times over the span of a year" he says and it became the catalyst in making Idiot Glee a full time hobby.