A golden late period by The Only Ones frontman continues with this third solo album, and having famously survived addictions, it muses on morbidity and other themes with a droll brilliance, aided guests including Johnny Marr, Bobby Gillespie, and Carlos O’Connell of Fontaines DC. Perrett is south London’s version of Lou Reed, who is perhaps his greatest influence, and his nasal voice weaves around fabulous tunes and delivers his own brand of sharp lyrics. This lengthy LP of over 70 minutes and 20 songs is one of his best, in this mature period or any other, 35 years after the split of The Only Ones. It’s rich with an ex-junkie’s earthy fatalism, wry humour a shaky, but powerful tenderness, and an ironic sense of self-destruction. I Wanna Go With Dignity opens with the lyrics “ It's a losing battle, tryin' to be sane / It leaves me tired and listless / If I'm gonna jump in front of a train / I'll wait till after Christmas / Don't wanna overstay my welcome.” There’s often a double-edginess to his lyrics. The single Disinfectant ruminates on metaphor around both sides of love’s addiction as much as that of drugs. Fountain of You is one his most beautiful love songs. World In Chains bemoans modern technology devoid of emotion. My Secret Taliban Wife is a surreal a vivid in its humour of bondage: “We;re trying something spooky tonight … she’s curious like a monkey tonight … she’s sending me videos on WhatsApp … I’m caught in a trap.” Solitary Confinement is beautifully wistful and droll: “I’ll give you all I’ve got … that means nothing.” Women Gone Bad mixes fuzz guitar with old-school synth pop (“It’s an age old problem .. you’ve just got to love ‘em … she’s out the streets for the right to be saved.”) This LP is filled with finely matured work, and as a solo artist Perrett has now matched the three albums he did with The Only Ones. And while almost nothing can beat the genius of his best known hit from that period, Another Girl Another Planet, if signing off now like the latter days of Johnny Cash (though let’s hope not quite yet) like that other man in black, he’s at the top of his game. Out on Domino Records.
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