Christian Lee Hutson - Paradise Pop. 10 (Album Review)
Friday, 04 October 2024
Written by Jack Press
Photo: Michael Delaney
Christian Lee Hutson’s fourth album of character studies disguised as intimate folk-pop ditties is his most immersive to date. Assuming the role of an airport-stranded people-watcher, ‘Paradise Pop. 10’ explores the complexities of interpersonal relationships with new found compositional verve.
Stumbling into life with soft strokes of piano, glimmering like sunlight on a bleary-eyed summer’s morning, opener Tiger straddles the same lanes Hutson’s driven down before. As a whole, though, ‘Paradise Pop. 10’ isn’t about playing it safe.
Carousel Horses launches into life like backyard fireworks, its fuzzed-up riffs and sweet-as-syrup harmonies (provided by Maya Hawke) suggesting Soccer Mommy’s Sophie Allison has joined Smashing Pumpkins, while Autopilot’s plucky Nilsson-esque Americana has an inviting warmth to it.
Of course, the music isn’t really Hutson’s selling point — it’s the storytelling that hooks you in. And on ‘Paradise Pop. 10’, Hutson swaps Stephen King-levels of detail for looser pictures of life in others’ shoes.
He often contemplates universal experiences, such as overthinking in the early hours of the morning, in elegant ways, as on Water Ballet: “The present interrupts the past, I swirl around the ice in my glass, and it looks like water ballet, synchronised swimmers circle the drain.”
Every track is a step in a different direction, meaning that there are a couple of dead ends. Flamingos’ five minutes feel like running a marathon with no training, its slow-burning sombreness not saved by co-producer Phoebe Bridgers’ sparingly-used harmonies. Its follow up, Fan Fiction, is a soundtrack to autumn walks that feels like someone working off the rust.
But these are minor quibbles. ‘Paradise Pop. 10’ is an immersive record that makes you wish Hutson would put out a book of poetry. As closer Beauty School plays out like a series of riddles (“With her, every question is a worm on a string, and every answer’s written in invisible ink.”) one thing becomes clear: if there was ever a challenger ready to usurp Father John Misty’s throne, it’s Christian Lee Hutson.
Christian Lee Hutson Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Sun November 10 2024 - BRISTOL Dareshack
Wed November 13 2024 - LONDON Lafayette
Thu November 14 2024 - MANCHESTER Deaf Institute - Lodge
Fri November 15 2024 - GLASGOW Oran Mor
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