3 out of 5

Label: VHF Records

Produced by: Cian Nugent, David Lacey, Jimmy Eadie

I accept… all of this: that the album is called Doubles; that this name is supported by the song titles – Peaks & Troughs, Sixes & Sevens – which are supported by the songs essentially being split in terms of how they’re structured. It’s very purposeful, duh, and it’s frequently beautiful, and can be so striking for its genre. Cian Nugent exists in the Fahey world of acoustic guitar epics, sitting alongside fellow VHFer Alexander Turnquist with the way he adopts Fahey’s busy sound and other label mainstay Jack Rose’s folkish leanings into an altogether more modern spin, as different from Turnquist as it can be from those other two. Cian “mimics” traditionalism more effectively, though, which can make it stunning when the music dives into slightly rougher-edged ambience, or explodes with horns and keys the way parts of Doubles does.

However, despite being able to accept how purposeful the album is, and acknowledging that its section within halves have their own dualities of tension and joy, I find the album very fractured. I want it to be an experience: something sweeping, which feels like should be enabled by its structure. Instead, Doubles keeps stopping and starting, moreso Nugent finding his way to a “point” for each song as opposed to building towards a conclusion. I think all of the individual pieces can be interesting, but even once they zero in on that point, I don’t know that the pieces are necessary, suggesting the structure of Doubles was of more importance than solely the content itself.

As is often the case with more experimental music of this variety, some brilliance in music theory may be escaping me which would unlock connections my ears aren’t hearing. I’m also subject to expectations, as I loved Nugent’s EP, and was really looking forward to a full length. Doubles is definitely still worth sitting with, though I think a less conceptual and more direct approach would’ve allowed the bits on here that already shine to do so more powerfully and consistently.