Gerry Mitchell & Little Sparta – ‘Scalpel Slice’ (Fire Records) Released 13/02/06

Starting with a tap of a high hat, it’s the mournful violin and guitar of the album’s title track that truly introduces us to the world of Little Sparta. Then Gerry Mitchell’s deep tones break in, expelling dark imagery and announcing “Things I’ve been/Nothing/A waste of time/Things I’ve done/Nothing”. It sets the tone here perfectly.

The collaboration between the experimental folk band and the Scottish poet does at times make for somewhat unsettling listening.  It is however a consistently captivating album.  Be warned: this is not music that will drift timidly into the background for it demands your attention throughout.

Little Sparta weaves some of the most powerful, moving pieces of music for Gerry Mitchell to unleash his prose against.  Mitchell twists every word and syllable to gain maximum affect.  It’s a style epitomised on the breakdown of 'Even The Saints' and it’s there on 'Carefully Constructed Ruin’s Epoch', a shouted repeat of “Burnt out cars/Burnt out people…POUND/POUND/POUND”.

These two songs, set against their backdrop of bleak landscapes, along with Skyscraper Housebound convey a foreboding sense of entrapment, a need to break out and be heard.  It’s something Mitchell fights against: constraints and his environment.

Little Sparta shadows the emotional, rallying prose with some of the most beautiful pieces of music. Here they contribute two instrumentals: 'Ruins' and 'I See Life'.  They stand on their own as stunning pieces, entwined within the context of the album though they become all the more potent.