Kenny Anderson, or King Creosote, is a singer/song writer from Fife, Scotland. Having been releasing music for over a decade, Anderson has a very expansive and comprehensive discography which includes roughly, an astonishing 40 total albums. This Might Well Be It, Darling is his latest full-length release and despite having pumped out so many albums and songs before it, Anderson has managed to keep things fresh, exciting, and interesting, as he further explores and builds upon his already established foundation, making sure to deliver a fun yet matured and expertly crafted yet retaining a sense of innocence styled record.
Opening up with the fuzzy, garage-rock chords of ‘Little-Man’, which plays out with a much more ‘classic rock’ vibe as compared to the rest of the more folk-centred album, we get a taste of Anderson’s comfortable playing, introspective and reflective song writing and it’s a track that is easy to digest and leaves you looking to dig deeper, making sure to leave enough accessibility in his music despite his depth of experience and extensive discography.
Following up with ‘Single Cheep’, Anderson takes away the distortion and fuzz and opens up with a more upbeat, folk, nostalgia-entwined track that carries with it a certain bounce, hop, and swing. Anderson’s voice is calm, controlled, and smooth and lets his charming and gentlemanly Scottish accent shine through.
From there, it seems the record retains the folk-influence and keeps with it the soft yet handsome sounds that King Creosote is known for. It’s easy to listen to, but the music keeps you engaged and Anderson’s voice carries his words and lets them roll off with sweeping melodies and swooning harmonies that are warming and easy to romanticize with.
Throughout the record, acoustic guitars are pleasantly layered and strummed, drums are played quick and to the point, electric guitars are intricately plucked and picked, and there are even keyboards with help add and build upon different moods and atmospheres that give each track their very own distinct sound and feel.
That Might Well Be It, Darling is a playful yet very intimate album that projects a looming sense of melancholy that muddles with a constant reflection throughout Anderson’s writing. ‘The Right Form’ is a dreary, sleepy track that is accented with the ever slightest Radiohead influence and ‘On The Night Of The Bonfire’ is a much more upbeat and celebratory song with a happy-go-lucky vibe, whereas we see Anderson holding on and not slipping into a total sob fest of an album. However, with ‘I Am Cellist’, we really see Anderson’s writing at its best where he crafts his words to flow and roll off in near perfect sync with the instrumental and the two components, lyrics and instrumental, flirt and flourish delicately but with a strong sense of skill and identity and with his latest release, let us just hope that Anderson does not stay true to the album’s title, as it seems he still has a lot of strength and steam behind himself.
