Spencer Cullum

Pedal steel player reinvented as psych-folk voyager.

Currently based in Nashville, where his pedal steel is much in demand, expat Brit Cullum has penned a gorgeous love letter home, in particular to Canterbury’s fabled psychedelic haven. Trainspotters will have a field day: is Tombre En Morceaux a purposeful homage to Pink Floyd’s Remember A Day? Or Kevin Ayers’ languid charm fused to Neu!’s lockdown chug on Dieterich Buxtehude? The Dusty Floor could be Floyd too, entwined with Soft Machine and Caravan DNA, while a crack Nashville squad of friends, including Caitlin Rose, channels Judy Dyble-era Fairport on Jack Of Fools. Cullum’s Anglo mindset is so fastidious that with one exception (To Be Blinkered conjures up Ry Cooder), he’s ditched the pedal steel for a more pliable nylon string guitar. He’s singing the bulk of the songs too, in a soft-spun fashion to suit this misty trip down memory lane.