Toronto’s Slim Twig recorded A Hound at the Hem in 2010 and released it himself, but a wider audience beckons with this release. While his sound textures are rooted in classic pop – Shroud by the Sheetful’s harpsichord recalls psych-pop, while the strings and chugging rhythm of Heavy Splendour are straight out of ELO’s armoury – Twig pays scant attention to melodic conventions. Chaos and disorientation prevails, which at times, such as on Maintain the Charade, leaves us at sea in a mire of clashing instrumentation. A Hound at the Hem is unapologetically shambolic, but there are moments of high drama: the strings on Hover on a Sliver create an eerie tension, before the chorus shuffles along like an early-80s indie record. Even Twig’s voice is an unreliable focal point: he uses a range of different vocal styles, and can sing like Iggy Pop, Edwyn Collins, the Blow Monkeys’ Dr Robert and Bob Dylan in the space of the same song.
