THREE minutes into the hushed flutterings of Mayfly, the opener of Sand’s second album, a descending piano figure triggers a burst of chaos that might put some in mind of the orchestral tumbledown of MacArthur Park by Jimmy Webb (that epic final section where Richard Harris might just lose it). But rather than the work of a 20-odd-piece troupe, A Sleeper, Just Awake is almost exclusively the work of Sam Healy, frontman of Edinburgh’s North Atlantic Oscillation.
Taking its title from second track LTGB, Healy’s new effort as Sand beguiles with such vast territory, changing gears and yanking handbrake turns down unexpected avenues.
That latter track, ostensibly a cut of clean, clipped funk, switches seamlessly into the mossy majesty of Mercury Rev before jazzing up the sort of freakout which earned Frank Zappa his purple flares and ‘tasche wax.
“Pete Meighan, who’s done a lot of work with North Atlantic Oscillation, plays some guitar and banjo,” says Healy, who began work on the record in spring last year in his home studio following NOA’s 2014 album The Third Day.
His solo debut as Sand, released a year earlier, was originally intended to blow away the cobwebs in between NAO releases. With A Sleeper however, he marks himself as an artist with a separate, genuinely interesting identity.
“Historically, I’ve done all these albums with the best intentions, then ended up hating them by the end of the process,” he says. “I get bored very easily and I always think I can improve things. It’s not a good combination to be a perfectionist and not be great at your instruments.
“But I enjoyed doing the first Sand record a lot more than I thought I would. It made it easier to do the third NOA record, as it was almost like going on musical holiday and it made me become better at production skills.”
Healy has a mind bursting with ideas. A Sleeper frequently hints at the bucolic experimentation of Spirit of Eden-era Talk Talk and Brian Eno’s cerebral ambience, and, in his shifting time signatures, he gives head-mangling Danes Mew a run for their krone.
For all that wonkery, it feels the opposite of indulgent. With not a scrap of flab around its nine tracks, he has an unusual knack for self-editing.
“Every so often I would have to phone a friend,” he allows.
“I have engineer friends like Pete who have great advice like; ‘Every three or four hours give your ears a break, take a rest’.
“It’s good advice but I never follow any of it. I keep on going until my brain thinks: ‘That’s enough’. Whether it’s an hour or 24 hours later, I just keep on. I’m stubborn.”
And though tracks such as Initial, an epic of misty harmonies and slow-swelling brass, almost yearn to be played live, Healy has no plans to tour this record as yet. It would have to be done properly, or not at all.
“I’m not crazy for big productions being stripped down live but rather I’m more keen on trying to replicate the studio sound, even if it’s a bit rickety at first,” he says, after explaining that, if he could have hired brass players for the album, he would have. They would have to do it in one perfect take, of course. This restless search for “perfection” made early NAO more comfortable in the studio than on stage.
“We eventually worked a way by using a combination of sequencers and harmonisers which allow you to layer and do things like vocal trails. So it would be possible, but it would be a big undertaking and there would have to be an audience for it. If I was certain of that, I would.”
A Sleeper, Just Awake is out now. sandtheband.com
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