Having harnessed an album together while crawling every street corner in Glasgow searching for nightlife, lust and love – Glasgow based Black and White Boy has found a redemption and renaissance of culture and tonic wine in debut record Fragile.
Main proprietor and songwriter Andrew Nicol has really placed himself on display within the eleven tracks on show, portraying a youthful elegance that evolves into a matured vision of hindsight as the album progresses.
Leading up to the release of Fragile, Nicol openly expressed the resentment and dare it be said the fragility of his mindset writing the songs, which would become the mantra around the record.
Enunciated with a tuned down arrangement of clean sounding guitars and rasping vocals often compared to a breeding Ryan Adams, there is a resounding theme of heartbreak and isolation, which is so commonly found on an Adams record.
While Adams finds resolution in solace, there is no such reprieve to be discovered within the realms of Fragile, Nicol sings of living with a “gun against his head” on ‘Breaking Down’ and “hiding” from himself in the despairing and desperately enchanting closer ‘In the Dark’.
It is the self subordination of conflict that makes Fragile an unsuspectingly frantic and compelling listen; seamlessly alluring a depth of fear and self-loathing, while instigating a domesticated presence of helplessness in the hope of being saved and dragged from a relentless wave that has overwhelmed and dismantled Nicol (‘The City Sleeps’).
In future releases, Black and White Boy will have their homework cut out to avoid sounding like a glorified Ryan Adams cover band, at times on Fragile, the rasps stray into an elegance which no longer defies a band inspired by Adams, but one which aspires to be Adams, while that may or may not be the case, it is vital for the bands long term relevance that they steer clear of any such pot holes.
After all, Fragile is a beautiful record, one that you owe it to yourself to listen to, especially with another mournful and dreary winter just around the corner.
Words: Chris Kelman
