Novelty Island return with their new album “Wallsend Weekend Televsion”

Novelty Island – in effect the work of Liverpudlian Tom McConnell – brought us one of 2021’s most intriguing debut records in How Are Coping With This Century? one that according to the review of the time was “owing an obvious debt to the Wings-era greatness of Paul McCartney..” but in the end “paints in far broader strokes than mere algorithm pleasing, one that’s also in spirit guided by fantasy sit downs with amongst others Ray Davies, Syd Barrett and Nick Drake.”

It’s follow up Wallsend Weekend Television is according to the writer a body of work years in the making and was recorded at Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 and in Abbey Road Studios 2 and 3. “It was supposed to be the first album as it was mainly done before, but I’m glad I parked it for a bit to get some distance from it” McConnell says. Further examination backs up his assertion that Novelty Island’s primary-colour psychedelia is on full chromatic display, making use of a more elaborate and cinematic atmosphere than the first record, the outcome being a much bigger sound.

Whisper it quietly, but it’s also a far better, more rounded album, whatever the sequence of writing. From the beginning there’s a serious debt being paid to ELO, yacht rock and Macca once again, but this time the nods are more subtle, from the kaleidoscopic opener Stitches, via the telly obsessed glam rock of Over And Over then on to Turn To Me’s happy knack for joyful understatement.

Whilst they’re less distinguishable from their predecessors, the latter half reveals what a capable writer McConnell is. Arranged as a wonderful triptych, Magnificent Advertisement, Sea Miner and Bootlegs collectively first take on classic rock, then apply their psychedelic touches with finesse, with the latter’s understated hauntology a revelation.

Finishing with the astral pomp of Balloons, Wallsend Weekend Television needs you to sit up close, but certainly won’t give you square eyes. On it Novelty Island again proves to be a destination you might want to catch a magical ferry to.