Escape That

This is Sweeney's first album of self-composed songs, its 11 tracks comprised of more than 20 pieces, written during lockdown on synths and guitar. These pop hooks and riffs he then improvised over, cut down and pasted together into a series of dance tunes where the electric guitars of Louis Campbell and Dave Mackay's synths take a lead role alongside Sweeney's fluid, poetic fiddle, with Jack Rutter's acoustic guitar and the bass of Ben Nichols guiding and anchoring the flow.

For Sweeney, writing in lockdown meant a return to the music of his past, and to the idea of music as an agent of time travel. These dance tunes meld the contemporary with Sweeney's deep journey through the worlds of English folk. It is, he says, ‘as close as I’ve ever got to sharing the sound of the inside of my head.’ It's a good place to be. The title-track is energetic and propulsive while retaining a fine lyricism, while the following ‘Pink Steps’ extends that lyricism into a beautifully formed miniature, its tune turning around and around itself. Andy Bell does a great job on production; you can feel all its musical layers showing through and settling in your mind, as if they came directly from Sweeney's.