The first solo album proper from former Y’all is Fantasy Island frontman provides a rather different proposition than 2009’s low key release Awnings. The latter was wilfully avant-garde, a decidedly lo-fi maelstrom of purring vocal loops and mechanic samples which almost seemed engineered as a direct reaction to the effortless accessibility of YiFI. For me, it was an often misguided if admirably vast and playful collection of tracks, but it failed to capitalise on Stafford’s strengths as a songwriter. Thankfully then Build A Harbour Immediately manages to strike a perfect balance which will satisfy those looking for songs as well as those intrigued by his experimentations with form.
The best example of this balance comes from the fluttering feather like vocal loops of ‘Shot Down You Summer Wannabes’ which are the basis of the whole track and are then adorned with harder gritted teeth lead vocals. It’s not just a pointless exercise in excising instruments though; it’s a warm stuttering wall of neo-soul proclamations, the lead vocal swooning with purpose and feeling. Throughout the record it is Stafford’s voice which is his most potent tool really, something backed up by ‘Frederick Wiseman’, the other loops only number which is a no-tempo pop gem akin to the wavering epiphanies of Julianna Barwick.
