The Television Personalities - ‘My Dark Places’ (Domino) Released 27/02/06

Mad, bad cult punk icon goes missing for a decade, turns up via an internet fan forum, before going on to release one of the best albums of 2006. Great story, isn’t it? Well, that’s exactly what Daniel Treacy of The Television Personalitites has done with the remarkable 'My Dark Places'. The album is a wildly undulating journey through Treacy’s life, skipping from genre to genre, from emotion to emotion. It's playful, painfully honest, sometimes just painful – and contains some fantastic songs. But most importantly (and remarkably given his recent past) there’s an inherent innocence and wonder running through the album that draws you deep into Treacy’s unique world.

The back-story goes something like this…. TVP’s are one of the new wave’s most influential bands, but never the most widely known. They continue throughout the eighties via numerous line-up and label changes before eventually dissolving in the mid-nineties – but not before one of their biggest fan Kurt Cobain has paid his respects by inviting them to play with his own little punk band, Nirvana. Treacy then promptly disappears for a decade amidst rumours of depression, homelessness, drink and drug addictions – and eventually his demise. Then, two years ago, following a jail sentence served on a boat, Treacy reappears by Googling his name, and informing the fansite he finds that he is indeed still with us. Not only that, but he’s left Her Majesty’s Pleasure armed with an album full of knock-your-socks off songs.

He wasn’t fibbing – and, following a deal with those nice people at Domino Records, Treacy has crawled out of his tunnel of shit to release 'My Dark Places', a valedictory classic comeback album. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about 'My Dark Places' is that it sounds fresher than many of today’s celebrated musicians who are half Treacy’s age. The pictures he paints of modern Britain most closely resembles the sketches of Mike Skinner and Pete Doherty, but Treacy’s searing mix of sonic curiousity and honesty combine to make something far more vital than either of his more illustrious contemporaries.