The fourth studio album by Nothing Concrete, ‘The Imperfectionist’, is something of a triumph of imperfection. Recorded by the band, in the self-built eco-friendly studio on their idyllic plot in Ariège region in France, the rich, raw and honest sounds reverberate. From the weathered hands of founders Fergus McKay and Gaia Miato come afrobeat, blues and tango woven together in a seemingly offhand, lived-in way that is really quite masterful. Album opener “The Boats” is a moving ode to migration and its virtues, infused with optimism and a gentle, even urgent insistence. The delivery in “Broken Bird” is softer but no less gritty, the stripped back instrumentation allowing the pain and love of the lyrics to bleed into each chord. “Cometh The Hour” has an infectious groove, as well as a measured intensity and restraint, which infuses it with a deceptive power. And just as the name would suggest, “Empty Whiskey Bottle Mariachi Blues” is equal parts smoky smokehouse blues and mariachi carnival.
“He Don’t Do Much Of That Now” has a quality of reflection, a sense of something shared between band and audience that hangs over it, long after the last note has been played. The title track, “The Imperfectionist”, is to me the emotional centre of the album, a quiet acceptance that perfection is flawed and part of life itself is beautiful. “John Henry Lee” is a song of simple, forthright storytelling and folk-stained grit. “No Force” is perhaps the slowest, most rumination-like track, and to me “No Force” can be something akin to a prayer or meditation on life. “S.O.S – Save Our Souls” is the most direct track on the record, an urgent entreaty shot through with conviction and rhythmic purpose. And to close the album, “The Western” is something of a theme song to the open road and frontier-style mystery and longing.
I believe that all these songs on ‘The Imperfectionist’ hang together and work well, because they are presented as if not quite forced into place, as if done so because it suits the song itself, and the band’s general ethos. The hands of producer Keith Witty lend the record an additional layer, but never take away from Nothing Concrete’s engaging rough edges. And after this triumph, it sounds like they are far from finished; this summer they will be playing at Glastonbury Festival 2025.
