EfRiM MANUel MeNUCk

Pissing Stars 6/10

Doomed romance and experimental soundscapes from Godspeed founder

While he’d probably spurn the term “leader”, Menuck’s central role in Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mount Zion means we commonly experience him as an ensemble player, buried amid apocalyptic clamour. His second solo record – the follow-up to 2011’s Plays “High Gospel” – strips things right back, Menuck’s halting, wracked blues set against shards of guitar and broken-down electronics. Robbed of Godspeed’s crescendos, a melancholy gloom dominates. But “A Lamb In The Land Of Payday Loans” is oddball pop with notes of ’70s Eno, and if the environmental message of “Kills V Lies” feels strident, it also feels necessary.