Albums

Euros Childs - Son of Euro Child

Richard Wink 07/09/2009

Rating: 3.5/5

Former member of Welsh oddballs Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and a prolific solo artist in his own right Euros Child makes enchanting alternative pop. Cartoonish simplicity built on soft waves of second-hand synths. Son of Euro Child sees Euros Child experimenting without the shackles of a record label, throwing many different ideas against the wall and seeing what sticks.

Split into two parts, part one opens with the scatologically titled 'Shithausaen' a minimalist tale of mundane woe. The theme is expanded upon fantastically in the dry critique of alienation and consumerist fatigue of 'Like this? Then Try This' with the almost Gok Wan mantra of “Lose some weight / hit the shops / discover a brand new you”.

'1000 Pictures of You' is probably the pick of the album, where Euros Child is able to tap into his tender side, combining the standard gentle melodies present throughout this album with a stirring almost spiritual finish. The predominantly instrumental 2nd part of the album allows Childs to display his innocent pop sensibilities, ornate keyboard mixing with tambourines and other toy percussion.

Making music for mentalists seems to be Childs raison d'etre, in the mire of bland singer songwriters it is nice to see someone tread a stranger psychedelic path, some critics may argue that Childs' music is a bit Mighty Boosh-like 'My Baby Joy' for instance perhaps falls into this category with some splendid surrealism “wading through a river of cheesy ice cream / I'll hold your head under until you can no longer breathe”, however since this album is available for download from his website for the costly sum of nothing but your sweet time then really it is worth checking out despite being exceedingly daft in places.

Release date: 07/09/2009