100 Greatest Songs of the 2010’s #61 C Duncan – Say

Released : 2015

Christopher Duncan’s first album was self written , self recorded and self produced: could there have been a more DIY entry for the Mercury Prize than a record made for £50? The back story over shadowed some of Architect’s magic, a collection of songs which languished in a treasure trove of influences drawn from half a century or more of classic folk, pop and troubadourism.

Inevitably Architect’s material, largely untouched by outside hands, had a purity and bitter sweetness to it like almost no other release that year, a sense of naivety which a process of learning as you go uncovers in the maker.

Say is the album’s most blushed, intricate moment, with Duncan’s voice ebbing like a choir. A gentle tumble of words talk about journeys and places which feel off in the distance and rarely visited, as did the music which framed them so longingly.