Album review: Mark Morriss – A Flash Of Darkness

Over the years Britpop’s reputation may have been tarnished but Mark Morriss, former lead singer of The Bluetones was always one of its shining lights. ‘A Flash Of darkness’, his second solo album is full of the the same intriguing wordplay and earworm melodies with an engrossing mix of folk, indie, strings and brass. Fittingly for the title, some of the lyrics supply a sad undercurrent most noticeable on ‘Low Company’ and the brilliant ‘It’s Hard Being Good All The time’. There are also two strong covers. ‘Pink Bullets’ (The Shins) keeps true to the original and a total reconstruction of Kavinsky’s ‘Nightcall’ that gives it a weird emotional edge.  The closer ‘Sleep Song’ is the stand out with its exploding “In a dream without pictures / in a dream without sounds” chorus. The man even gets away with ending on a sax solo. His strongest material in years. 8/10