Paul K – Soul Connection
“This collection of instrumentals has evolved over the last couple of years from an original idea I had to chart the journey of life from birth to death in musical form.”
So read the sleeve notes of Paul Kirkpatrick’s debut solo album. ‘Soul Connection’ is the prequel to a book that Kirkpatrick is writing. The concept album then, part of a bigger project, art for art’s sake. Call it what you will, the plain and simple fact is that at no point does this album even veer close to uncharted musical territory. It’s electronica of the simplest form…. the bedroom DJ fiddling with loops. And whilst that in itself is not a reason to write off an album, the lack of direction contained within certainly does provide a reason. There is not “journey of life from birth to death” – in fact, the pace of this album is as monotonous as any electronic album of recent times. It’s not a BAD album, nor is it particularly offensive, but it is probably an unnecessary album, and whether it adds anything substantial to the book project is dubious. The promise is that feedback to the album will be incorporated into the book, interpreted in digital art, and converted into lyrical interpretations in time for the second album. Hmmm.