C Duncan – Health review

How to respond your debut album, recorded in your flat for less than £100, being nominated for the Mercury Prize? Do the same again. C Duncan’s album Architect stuck out amongst its contemporaries for being self-written, self-recorded and self-produced; rather than change a winning recipe, he repeated it for it’s follow-up, The Midnight Sun.

This time round however the Scot has gone in for working in a studio and with a band, at the same time adding new dimensions to a repertoire steeped in folk, jazz, and platonic indie rock. Newly reinvigorated then, opener Talk Talk Talk fizzes with a dancefloor-happy bounce, whilst the schmoozing yacht rock of Somebody Else’s Home is another kind of departure altogether.

Health is also the opening of a new chapter for the singer himself, being in his own understated way a coming out record. Inspired by John Grant’s coruscating and brutally honest explorations of psyche, the overtones are far less confrontational, He Came From The Sun delicate glance back at a romantic past.

There’s not doubt that in method and mood Health is a bold foot forward for Christopher Duncan, one that now he’s longer working alone for the first time, is all about himself.

You can read a full review here.