Nick Pynn - In Mirrored Sky/Music From Windows

Equally at ease backing Steve Harley as he is B*witched, this versatile multi-instrumentalist has shared stages more recently with Arthur Brown and Jane Bom-Bane. Nevertheless, since the release of a debut solo album, 1995’s In Mirrored Sky, Nick Pynn has deserved attention for worthier reasons than association with famous personalities. Some might seize upon comparisons to Clifford White, Stairway and other of Britain’s foremost New Agers. Yet, while adjectives such as “celestial” and “atmospheric” may spring to mind while getting a handle on this 2-CD reissue of In Mirrored Sky and 1999’s Music From Windows, the contents are too daring, unsettling even, for this to remain neatly pigeonholed. Just listen to the stop-start hoedown of The Correct Selection Of Gears, or let Pynn’s acute ear for melody wash over you and you’ll realise that this goes far deeper than any more ethereal music. If you stick Music From Windows (which is here supplemented by in-concert excerpts and a soundtrack to a ballet) on instant replay one rainy afternoon, you will no doubt feel a sort of pleasant, nostalgic melancholy creep in.