Outside Love

Pink Mountaintops has lazily been dismissed by many as a ‘side-project’ of Black Mountain frontman, Stephen McBean. True, the almighty impact of McBean’s annihilating guitar prowess is turned down a notch or ten for the occasion and drums are beat in an altogether more tender fashion, but to say that this is a side-project is akin to likening Jesus to a ‘side-project’ of God’s. What Pink Mountaintops is as a band is an entity unto itself and should be thought of as such. If you are a fan of Black Mountain this might be a little difficult at first. You might find yourself a little uncomfortable and unsure of what you are listening to; as if you have just stumbled across a rare recording of Robert Plant singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ (not entirely unfathomable), but perseverance is key here. In a reversal of the ‘still waters run deep’ theory, it turns out that all-out eardrum-bursting rockstars can run pretty deep too.

Outside Love is the third album from Pink Mountaintops and it is one which sees McBean realising that he doesn’t need to be entirely self-reliant or solipsistic in order to actualise what is clearly a very personal project. His backing band comprises no less than seven real-life humans including vocalists Sophie Trudeau (of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra) and Ashley Webber (a recently Bonnie Prince Billy collaborator), Destroyer pianist Ted Bois, Keith Parry on drums, Tolan McNeil, Joshua Wells and Josh Stevens.

The sheer volume of experienced musicians adds an immense array of diversity to an album which, if recorded with a bare bones line-up, could have been very samey. In addition to the core eight-piece band, there are a whopping 11 other musicians who make one-off contributions, including a four-piece all female choir who help McBean to beseech the lines “How deep is your love?” repeatedly throughout album opener ‘Axis: Thrones of Love’. This sets the tone for an album wrought with self-exploration through a medium of guitar distortion, upbeat piano melodies, harmonicas and violin strings. On the album’s standout track ‘The Gayest of Sunbeams’, Pink Mountaintops manage to channel the playful yet introspective tones of The Velvet Underground circa the altogether more accessible ‘Squeeze’ era. 

Outside Love feels quite autobiographical in nature, which helps this listener to forgive some of the weaker tracks such as ‘Vampire’, whose dragging melody literally drains the life out of a song that has the potential to be poignantly beautiful. Thankfully, the high moments outshine the low and the result is a little album with a big heart that humbly lifts the spirits.