Karl McCann - Trial By Versions (2026)

rial By Versions, by Liverpudlian singer/songwriter Karl McCann, is an interesting listen. It’s a fairly maudlin beginning, the haunting opener ‘The McCanns‘ setting his stall out from the off. McCann’s somewhat fragile vocal giving off vibes of kind of ‘tortured poet’. The next number, ‘Too Far Away‘ does little to dispel that interpretation, the almost maniacal constant strum on that guitar as unsettling as it is intriguing.

‘Money Monster‘ is an airier, more wistful track, a bit of light relief, before ‘Byproduct Of A Byproduct‘ harks back to the bleak indie pop of late eighties, early nineties Blackburn band Bradford.

‘Is That What You Really Want‘ falls somewhere between Morrissey, jangle pop and The Blue Nile. Consequently it’s probably the most commercial track on the record, albeit low-key.

‘Schizo Business‘ is my personal favourite, I think, McCann’s low, Nick Cave like drawl effective here in its disquieting demeanour, given a nineties style sheen courtesy of Jay Roberts’s productional skills.
‘Maybe Maybe‘ again employs that menacing, persistent guitar strumming technique I mentioned earlier, while ‘Will You Love Me?‘ recalls the gentle melancholy of bands like The Mock Turtles on their most contemplative works.

McCann seems to be going for a Radiohead (circa The Bends) effect on the title track and, while the album is impressive in its lofty ambitions, the one thing that really holds it back, for me, is its rather one-paced ambience. Granted, if Trial By Versions is the very personal work of an artist struggling with the demons of anxiety and depression that I have – rightly or wrongly – concluded it is, then obviously I wasn’t expecting any throwaway three minute pop songs or anything like that, but I would have actively embraced a move away from the minor chords every now and again.

Curtain closer ‘4Eva‘ does at least provide a little of that much needed respite, especially when those train-like drums kick in.

All in all, Trial By Versions is a decent album, but my goodness, it sounds fucked up at times. But maybe that’s the point. Who knows?