Billy Nomates – CACTI review

It’s an unlikely beginning, but for Tor Maries the path to a kind of redemption came via a Sleaford Mods gig a few years ago. Living with her sister after hitting dead ends in both relationships and making music, after a spur of the moment decision to go the polemical duo’s honesty and lack of showbiz reignited something she believed had been almost extinguished. To cut a long story short, this chance epiphany led to a collaboration with them on the track Mork and Mindy.

At some point during that process the idea of Billy Nomates took full shape. Now fascinatingly after an eponymous debut album got caught up in the frustrating backwash of the pandemic, two years later the line where Maries ends and her alter ego begins gets even more blurry on her/their second album, CACTI.

Energised by a flux of sometimes contrasting emotions, it would be straightforward to flick immediately to spite, a track which picks the bones out of an extinguished relationship in grand confrontational style. But there’s much more to admire here than provocation, be it in lyrics with address the singer’s personal state with a discomforting honesty (As on opener balance is gone) or when musically things open out enough to neatly frame her soulful voice (same gun, blackout signal). Never less than intriguing, CACTI is a far more ambitious record than Tor Maries might have set out to make.

You can read a full review here.