Mr. Alec Bowman_Clarke – A Place Like Home
Corduroy Punk Records – 29 October 2021
Every time you think you have a handle on what’s going on, listening to Mr. Alec Bowman _Clarke throws it all into a cocked hat, that’s certainly true of his new EP, A Place Like Home. Change is a constant, which is why Bowman has become Bowman_Clarke, incorporating the surname of his partner (and producer) Josienne Clarke. Written during the heart of the lockdown, the album is part of his search for meaning, one that incorporates a lot of things that sometimes seem to be at odds with each other.
Lockdown has affected us all differently, but there are some constants; one is the attempt to try and find some meaning in it all. But “Deleted Scenes” points to the places where meaning may have been harder to come by. Hearing the tape click on, Bowman_Clarke gets to work, guitar at the ready, “If we’re not made of more than the sum of our parts/ There’s nothing to fight for, to tell us apart/ From the soul of an animal stuck outside in the rain.” It sounds just a bit bleak, yet as he goes on, he begins to incorporate the fact that, like most humans, we can hold two opposing views at the same time, “I know it sounds mad to believe in a thing/ That can’t be detected by measuring/ One day they’ll find it and then you’ll see that I’m right.” The proof is out there; we just haven’t found it yet. Then the tape clicks off.
Even when things seem disheartening, Bowman_Clarke paints images using a brush laced humour, although some of it can be incredibly dour. Guitar and clarinet frame a scene in “The Ghost of Mistakes” that could hardly be described as domestic bliss, “Tell me ‘bout the you before me/ and all of the things you wanted to be/ And how you’ll never be none of it now/ with me around weighing you down.” Not exactly a picture of domestic tranquillity, but lockdown has had that effect on everyone. Apologies became a way of life, “Stuck in here with me all the time/ is enough to drive anyone out of their mind.” And the days continue, unremarkable, unabated and undeniably dull.
Writing in lockdown sometimes leads one to think back on the way things were. Such is the case with “A Place Like Home,” where even the memories seem more than a tad depressing. Josienne Clarke adds high harmony to Bowman_Clarke’s recollections of loneliness on the road, “That empty hollow echo in your bones/ You’re lucky just to have somewhere to go/ spend the whole night talking to your phone/ Where everyone seems to have a place like home.” Even if home isn’t a scene of domestic tranquillity, it’s a place to be, and that can make all the difference.
In the continuing saga of Mr. Alec Bowman_Clarke “A Place Like Home” establishes that he is an artist of extraordinary depth. Finding ways to record feelings many would have rather keep hidden during a time when the stress of the mundane has had us grasping for straws to keep us sane, Bowman_Clarke exposes the inner voices, thoughts and terrors of his own human frailty.
‘A Place Like Home’ (29 Oct) is available to pre-order on CD, download & streaming via: ffm.to/aplacelikehome
There is also a Bandcamp exclusive, digital-only disc called ‘A Place Like Home Demos’ available here – https://mralecbowman.bandcamp.com/album/a-place-like-home-demos