And so we come to my album of the year. When I first heard Paroxysm, way back in the spring, I was certain that I would be writing this piece on Christmas Eve. That’s the impact it had.
Of course, Scrimshire has been making consistently good albums for a few years now. Following hard on the heels of 2020’s Believers came Nothing Feels Like Everything. A more reflective, more melancholy offering. Moreover, it was a protest album; an observation of the decline in everyday living standards. The eight-minute long The Pile, voiced by UK jazz and soul legend, Cleveland Watkiss, led the charge. It was a pointer.
Now, come 2023, there is more anger in that protest. The ferocious Paroxysm screams that we’re not going to take it any more. This direct response to the state of the nation is Scrimshire’s darkest record to date. The milieu is established from the moment the needle hits the record as Permeate’s pounding drums sets the scene. Similarly, Flames, featuring the voice of Faye Houston and the sumptuous horn of Tamar Osborn is driven by an incessant percussion.
There is a run of three tracks that elevate Paroxysm to greatness. They begin with the first part of What Is The State Of Our State. London-based poet and MC, Repeat Beat Poet, raps his verse atop another drum onslaught. It leads us to the cosmic jazz of Your Invasion Is A Lie, featuring the incendiary saxophone of Soothsayers’ Idris Rahman. Rahman’s contribution is Coltrane-esque. Simultaneously, Scrimshire lays down incredible piano chords.
From there it’s into my personal favourite, Unforgotten, Unforgiven. This is more resigned, more melancholic, full of sorrow. Scrimshire’s carefully picked keys dovetail with the elegiac saxophone of the outstanding Nat Birchall.
You could walk through Paroxysm (and you really, really should) and pick out any track as a highlight. In my write-up for Louder Than War, I stated that Paroxysm, like both of its predecessors, is a superb album. And secondly, that the arc of Adam Scrimshire as a composer and performer is a fascinating one.
And now, at the year’s end, when we have the opportunity to listen back to all the records we have loved throughout the year, I can comfortably say that Paroxysm is the most consistent; the most complete. The best. My first impression, formed the first time I heard this album, was spot-on. It’s an album with no mis-steps and so many high points. Furthermore, it’s an album that keeps on giving. The more you listen to it, the more you glean. It is deservedly my album of the year.
the dark flux 