Gav Prentice - The Invisible Hand
Familiar and well-observed folk-pop songs from the Over the Wall vocalist
This solo debut from Over The Wall vocalist Gav Prentice may be lacking in the fanfares that define his euphoric electro-brass duo, but this album’s small-town Scottish tales of getting old and family and work are characteristically familiar and well-observed. Few capture loss (of youth, of love, of home) as acutely – as achingly – as Prentice, and his voice remains equal parts ecstatic and heartbreaking.
‘Give It Up’ is a gorgeous, hammering, stripped-back paean; ‘King George’ is all acoustic shimmers and raging choral retribution (‘I’m well versed in bended knee and communion wine still stains my teeth’); ‘Burning Down’ commemorates his eroding neighbourhood with a drive-folk diatribe. The Invisible Hand is a warm refuge while we await more from Over The Wall.