Nev Cottee - Madrid (2022)

A rich musical journey comprising eleven songs, Madrid channels the chaotic charms of the Spanish capital where Nev has recently relocated.

"I love the way life works here. It's organised chaos. Walking
the neighbourhoods of Lavapiez and La Latina you begin to see how everything is perfectly balanced...how to eat, how to party and then how to relax! It's perfection. When it all gets too much I run away to
the English countryside"

Side A cut 'The Ring' calls to mind Cowboy In Sweden era Hazlewood while that Mustang bass, scratchy guitars and cool 60's drum fills invoke Serge and Vannier for ' Silver Screen' and title track 'Madrid'. Scott 4 is obviously a touchstone and Nev has never been one to hide his reverence for one of the greatest albums of all time. Seven minute wonder 'Under The Skin' channels Walker's brooding lyrical majesty while long time collaborator and producer Mason Neely brings Phil Spector madness to a disorientating string arrangement. Violas, cellos and violins swoop and merge in a hallucinatory finale to side A.

Side B includes the 60's pop of 'A Million Years', a string quartet ode to the mysterious Angela' and 'Johnny Ray'- a driving Morricone tale of a 'Leather clad stranger/God's lonely man/A modern day Lone
Ranger The album begins and ends on a reflective note as instrumental 'Maps To The Stars' guides the listener into Madrid's kaleidoscopic world while the Waits-like lullaby 'All's Well That Ends Well'bookends the journey
with soft piano and cello tones. Spending time in M(adrid we encounter a lust for life's undeniable, intangible magic