DANIEL KNOX

I Had A Wonderful Time

HP JOHNSON PRESENTS 8/10

Beautifully mordant Chicago blues If last year’s Chasescene presented a sugar-coated version of Daniel Knox – one indebted to music hall and who’s pals with Jarvis Cocker – I Had A Wonderful Time drags us back to the bad old days of 2015 when this hirsute misanthrope released his self-titled third album and dealt in a kind of apocalyptic electronic blues. Averaging eight minutes in length, these four songs find Knox crooning like John Grant before the wall of sound collapses into a satisfying dirge, evoking both the mannered pop of The Magnetic Fields and Suicide’s euphoric nihilism. Best of all is the sunken waltz of “Hollow”, where Knox wallows ruefully.