Founding bassist of Talk Talk, Paul Webb formed experimental duo .O.rang with Talk Talk’s drummer Lee Harris after the band broke up in 1991, later making cult classic Out Of Season as Beth Gibbons And Rustin Man with Portishead’s singer. He returned with a debut solo album Drift Code, again as Rustin Man. Now he’s back with his second LP in two years…
Having waited 17 years for Drift Code, listeners might be shocked by a follow up LP delivered in such a tight time frame, but in actuality Clockdust’s roots can be found in the same extended sessions. “Early on I realised I had two albums worth of material,” Webb explains. “The first tunes I wrote were electric guitar based, with long arrangements that built up in layers to something sonically quite dense. These because the bulk of Drift Code. As a reaction, I wrote a batch of songs that were tighter in their structure but had more feeling of space. These make up the bulk of Clockdust.”
Once he’s identified each song’s greater role, Webb took pains to ensure the albums would fair well as stand-alones: “Through the year of mixing and releasing Drift Code, I made a conscious effort not to listen to Clockdust. It became some long-lost twin everybody had forgotten. There was an older, wiser atmosphere to it, more cinematic but in a romantic way.” This is exemplified in his newly released single – Jackie’s Room.
Alongside the album announcement, three special live dates have been announced, including London’s Union Chapel. These are the first live shows for Webb since 2003—when he and Beth Gibbons performed their record Out Of Season—and the debut of live performances in his Rustin Man guise.
Tilda Howard