Half Cousin – Fantasy Belt

Kevin Cormack's adventure through the rugged musical landscape has lasted nearly ten years now; he first surfaced under the name Half Cousin in 2003 working alongside producer Jimmy Hogarth and has since released a steady stream of idiosyncratic albums that consistently beguile as much as they satisfy.

Fantasy Belt is the Oracadian songwriter's second collection of new material in 12 months. Long-term fans will instantly recognise the Beta Band-esque precussive invention of the album's title track, whilst Skinny Henchman pleases as it builds from an acoustic lament to a driving rhytmic conclusion, deftly swerving through a succession of unexpected turns along the way.

Less enjoyable is Last of the Swona Bulls, which paints island imagery on a musical background that's too thin to be effective. Fantasy Belt is further proof of Cormack's talent for marrying off-kilter folk with a collage of a surprising musical fragments. But he's released fuller and more gratifying abums than this.