It’s long past the time of day when Thomas Giles (aka Tommy Rogers of Between The Buried And Me) began being able to do whatever the hell he wanted. To be fair, to say his day job band has moments of eclecticism is like saying that Brexit negotiations have been a little bit difficult. And that diversity of spirit, of zig-zag, is absolutely at the core of fourth solo offering Don’t Touch The Outside (Sumerian Records), a record that is everything and nothing, and that is laissez-faire in respect of genre while being incredibly focused in trying to keep the listener moving.

And to be fair to Giles, he lays the foundations with opening track ‘Church Friends’, a quirky, off-kilter subdued number that, at points, reminds of Alternative 4 era Anathema before fuzzing out with some dirty Industrial bass and in which Giles enjoys returning to a peculiar, twisted vocal hook, before killing the song dead in its tracks. Songs, let alone the album as a whole, are not going to be just one thing. Sticking with the theme ‘Incomplet’ is a tumbling, off-centre, and deliberately so, ride, that moves on from jagged alternative rock into a lazy Muse influenced Western-soaked verse.

The issue with being inconsistent in style, however, is it leads to, well, inconsistency in delivery, as for every ‘Mr Sunshine’, with its cool motif, there is a hookless, sparse ‘Radiate’. The meandering and beige ‘Awake From Death’ and ‘Sway’ are the balancing act to ‘Everyone Is Everywhere’ being resplendent with a dancey, slinky synth, and it’s luscious and captivating partner, ‘Milan’, which features Krystoffer Rygg on a cracking track that sounds like it belongs to The Assassination Of Julius Caesar (House of Mythology) sessions. Interspersed in this playground, like the rocking horse and twisty poles amongst the slides and climbing frames, are some obstinate and peculiar asides. ‘I Win’ is throbbing and fucked up. It’s unexpected but doesn’t necessarily achieve much. ‘Weather Moods’ brings us back to minimalistic weirdness, before building to some Marilyn Manson-y shit.‘Take Your Seats, Time Gentlemen’ could be lifted from a Tim Burton soundtrack, and ‘Exordium’, a gentle post-Rock outro, closes things off.

At least you can’t say Don’t Touch The Outside is predictable or obvious. It’s never poor, someone of Giles’ talents wouldn’t, even at his most flippant or artistic, switch off the quality control, but by stepping off the beaten track, it sometimes gets tangled in the rough. That said, the better moments are most definitely worth your time, particularly when he sashays into that gorgeous eighties Ulver territory.

6/10

STEVE TOVEY