“These Pictures Won’t Tell You” – Nik Lone

I’ve had one of those weeks. My internet went down on Tuesday, and has only just returned. Other people might take this as an opportunity to have a holiday, but with deadlines looming I found myself dealing instead with a pocket wi-fi that dropped out frequently in my suburban home, and was crawling when I was online. My parents jetted off to Italy, leaving me feeling very jealous, and my husband started to pack for his two-week business trip to the States. To say I’ve been a bit emotional may be an understatement.

And so predictably I’ve looked to music to soothe the savage beast. And I found it in Nik Lone’s debut solo effort These Pictures Won’t Tell You. As I slipped it in my stereo and the first track “Raining” washed over me I knew I’d made the right choice. The track is a slow burner, beautifully built. I thought what an amazing soundscape Nik had created, with his unique voice another instrument in the mix.

More lush, lovely tunes were to come, particularly the string-laden “Time” and the old-world influenced ballad “Little White.” I found myself enjoying all the tracks, but I had a few niggly issues.

There’s a fine line between creating tracks that burn slowly and ones that are merely sleepy, and I think Nik crosses that sometimes. Some parts frankly bored me. Every song had its moments, but many tunes didn’t sustain themselves for the length of the song. I’d nod in understanding when they reached their pay-off point, but that often came about three-quarters of the way through the track. The radio lover in me noted that many people would have changed the channel by then, missing those really crucial moments.

But These Pictures Won’t Tell You really isn’t a disc for the radio-loving set. It’s challenging and complex. While I appreciate the way it soothed me this week, something tells me I’ll really get it a few weeks from now, or perhaps even longer. For now though I know this is a subtle, gentle album that’s a thing of real beauty. I know it won’t rev everyone, but for the patient listener it’s a find.

Image source: Nik Lone website