Album Review: Graham Coxon - A+E

With a scabby knee adorning the cover and the title being a reference to the British emergency ward, A+E marks Graham Coxon's eighth solo outing, with this being the fourth since his departure from Blur and his first since their eventual reunion, it's an album that can be erratic, however at other points familiar.

Advice is a rather bland opener for the album and a track that tries to sound witty but unfortunately comes off more like a working class version of Primal Scream. Affairs become far more interesting with the krautrock feel of follower City Hall, with its one verse, jam and repeat method becoming rather addictive by the end. A+E also draws a fair bit of inspiration from the electronic spectrum with What'll It Take being a Pete Doherty version of a Pulp song while The Truth gets rather dark with its ground moving bass under a melancholy synth loop. Coxon isn't afraid to open up on guitar on tracks like Meet + Drink + Pollinate and the six-and-a-half minute Knife In The Cast which finds him exploring the fret and pedal board.

While Graham Coxon has received nowhere near the acclaim of part-time rival Damon Albarn for his solo outings, there's definitely a market for A+E. Fans of his previous solo material or his work within Blur won't be too shocked with what's on offer, with new fans perhaps being able to take more away from the spontaneity of some tracks or the more conventional feel of others. However, it is not an album worthy of sitting high on your record collection, rather an album that deserves a good listen here and there.