Belbury Poly - The Path (2023)

Ghost Box founder Jim Jupp's latest Belbury Poly record is a full band affair, with Christopher Budd on guitar and bass, Midlake's Jesse Chandler on woodwind and keys, Max Saidi on drums and Justin Hopper handling the narration.

If you've been listening closely to Belbury Poly over the years, you'll know the project was always bound to end up here. 'The Path' is Jupp's most fully-realized album yet, and hits his hauntological obsessions squarely on the nose. Inspired by the '70s movie soundtracks of Roy Budd (best known for 'Get Carter') and jazz pianist Roger Webb's sleazy b-movie scores, it's a narrative driven concept album that's held together by spoken word passages from author and poet Justin Hopper. "It's very much an album with spoken words rather than a spoken word album," the press release reads.

Hopper's soothing American voice introduces us to the album on 'Coordinates', assisted by rousing curlicues from Chandler's flute. It's like hearing a lost introduction to some long-forgotten TV pilot, and that's clearly by design. The title track is predictably funky, a library jam that realises Jupp's vision in tight 4:3, and as the record creeps on, it expands Hopper's narrative, mapping a phantasmagorical UK with bridges, motorways and street signs. The musical accompaniment is a churn of downtempo exotica that buzzes alongside the words like Jeff Wayne's iconic 'War of the Worlds'. As you can imagine, it's deeply nostalgic - probably best enjoyed on worn cassette tape.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Belbury Poly - Coordinates (1:27)
1.02 - Belbury Poly - The Path (4:23)
1.03 - Belbury Poly - Highways and Byways (3:28)
1.04 - Belbury Poly - Pixie-Led (1:48)
1.05 - Belbury Poly - The Exile Way (5:05)
1.06 - Belbury Poly - Between Sea and Sky (3:02)
1.07 - Belbury Poly - Sunrise at the Crossroads (0:52)
1.08 - Belbury Poly - All That I Am (4:03)
1.09 - Belbury Poly - Going, Gone (3:40)
1.10 - Belbury Poly - Blind Alley (2:00)
1.11 - Belbury Poly - The Wrong Spot (4:09)
1.12 - Belbury Poly - You Won't Find Me (1:14)
1.13 - Belbury Poly - Last Orders (4:52)
1.14 - Belbury Poly - Highways and Byways (Instrumental) (3:28)
1.15 - Belbury Poly - Between Sea and Sky (Instrumental) (3:02)
1.16 - Belbury Poly - Going Gone (Instrumental) (3:40)
1.17 - Belbury Poly - The Wrong Spot (Instrumental) (4:05)