Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat – The Most Important Place in the World (Chemikal Underground)

During his days as one half of Arab Strap, Aidan Moffat provided the alternative thoughts and dry comedy barbs that brought a drunken fever to the band. Those same barbs are found on his second collaboration with Bill Wells; The Most Important Place In The World. The previous collaboration between the two, 2011’s Everything’s Getting Older, was named on album of the year lists and won Scottish Album of the Year, so anticipation has been high for this offering.

As with much of Arab Strap’s best the songs, the ones that really hit home on Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat’s first offering were those that talked about drunken love, drugs, misery and middle age. And these topics are visited again for The Most Important Place In The World.

In ‘Vanilla’ the nervousness of sex is explored, and the ability of Aidan Moffat to deliver lines of poetry is shown. His familiar Scottish accent breathing over swathes of sun soaked Morcheeba-like trip-hop music. Constant repetition of “the usual…” followed by lists of nervous fumbles in a one night stand, or a long standing relationship. Everything goes wrong, and, as usual, Moffat is able to see the funny side. He finishes with “but the usual conclusions will still be reached, and the usual complaints will remain unvoiced.”

Whatever music Moffat’s voice is put to, and there is a range throughout the album, he remains mockingly brilliant. Moffat has said the songs on the album are “salutes to the city and the secrets she hides; it’s ticking clocks and dirty dishes; it’s raising the devil on old equipment.” In this respect listening through the album is like walking in and out of bars in any of the UK’s biggest cities.

The whole adventure is started by driving into the city via ‘On The Motorway.’ Then it becomes all of the fights, all of the drinks, all of the lines and two fingers at all of “these fucking amateurs in their sisters’ clothes, and unnecessary spectacles” (‘The Unseen Man’) all the way to mourning the run down abandoned high street shops of ‘We’re Still Here.’ It’s on this journey that, in ‘Any Other Mirror,’ Moffat appears to stumble into a bar where Barry Manilow is drunk on whiskey, born in Glasgow and finally realising his age.

In The Most Important Place In The World the ability of Bill Wells to arrange music to fit a vast range of genres gives a platform for Aidan Moffat to release what is, for the most part, closer to performance poetry than song. The album is jazz and chillout as well as introspective and haunting. As reassuringly dark and humorous as much of Moffat’s work – apart from the children’s book – this will give more pleasure and belly laughs for the ears and hearts of fans.