One of the agenda-setting bands and albums to look out for in 2014, Let Spin climb effortlessly to the top of any list you might care to scribble down on the back of the nearest recycled Basildon Bond envelope to hand. The debut self-titled album of guitarist Moss Freed’s new band follows on relatively quickly from the very different Moss Project’s meta-album What Do You See When You Close Your Eyes? released by Babel during the spring of 2013. A book-like album that included the accompanying responses of leading literary writers including Naomi Alderman and Colum McCann to the ambitious beyond genre free-prog the Project had created, it attracted largely positive reviews.
Let Spin by contrast is a leap into the unknown, a band and an album that sees the coming together of a quartet with Freed and electric bassist Ruth Goller (also a member of the Moss Project) joined by alto saxophonist Chris Williams, known for his work as part of Led Bib, and Beats & Pieces drummer Finlay Panter.
To be released by Manchester's Efpi, the house label of Beats & Pieces and that forward thinking big band's associated artists, all four of the band have contributed compositions to their debut, and it’s a tantalising combination, Ruth Goller adopting a more Steve Swallow-like role at times while Williams has that characteristically bluesy Ornettian inflection in his alto sound that’s just a little different to the way he plays in Led Bib. The tunes are lament-laden rather than bitter sweet, the anti-ballad ‘Piper’ with its sinewy harmonic textures just one example. Let Spin is released in February when Let Spin are also touring. A big blip on any self-respecting new band radar that might otherwise flicker too inscrutably.