THE DURUTTI COLUMN
Renascent (London)
Despite being one of the great survivors of the Manchester postpunk scene, it’s still somewhat surprising, and moving, to find The Durutti Column’s founding member Vini Reilly releasing a new record 46 years after his debut. There’s a vulnerability about him that translates directly into the music that he makes, and there have been several times where it seems that he might have given up making music forever.
The music of The Durutti Column is sui generis, existing in a space a few feet to the left of our own. While Reilly’s guitar playing betrays folk, jazz, and classical influences, he never places a foot firmly in any genre. On Renascent all the elements of Reilly’s music, in place since his earliest recordings with Martin Hannett, are here: the pristine production space within which the music exists, diaphanous guitars draped over sparse drum beats and the occasional piano chord, gossamer guitar lines which crystallise out of the space surrounding the music.
Perhaps, given Reilly’s health problems over recent years, it’s not surprising that the music here sounds even more spectral and wraith-like, than previous albums, but ultimately Renascent reaffirms the timeless nowhere sound of The Durutti Column.
words DAVID GRIFFITHS
