I can remember first playing Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly’s ‘I-Spy’ to my friend during a Maths class in the Summer of 2006 – at the time, a song that brought happiness and charm to an otherwise dull lesson. But upon reflection now, it’s become a simple melody to me that brings across a metaphor so intricate and obvious it makes me laugh to think I was ever so naive not to realise it’s love song roots in the first place. This is something that appeals to me about Sam Duckworth (Southend’s citizen responsible for these records): those that follow the band closely will find his political opinions and beliefs buried beneath the sugar-sweet offerings of not only The Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager but 2008’s Searching for the Hows and Whys too.

Enter Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly and it’s first single ‘Collapsing Cities’ – the first ten seconds of hand-picked acoustic guitar restart those nostalgic memories and then, all of a sudden, you’ll pulled in the other direction by a drum machine and an eclectic mix of electronic beats and trumpets. It’s almost like Duckworth is teasing you with what it could’ve been before bundling you into a van on the side of the road and escorting you into strange, unfamiliar territory. It works though: the darker, edgier lyrics with themes of his younger years and teenage angst pull it together and the childish ‘ba-ba-ba’ restores the charm you longed to hear.

However, it all gets a little messier from here on out. The next three tracks fail to grip on the energy that was just bestowed upon us, becoming musical representations of the roadside break Duckworth’s taking as parks up the van you’re in. The thought was there though, the ‘ba-ba-ba’s’ keep on going in ‘Nightlife’ but they seem out-of-place and unnecessary; musical styles are experimented with by dabbling in worldbeat with Baaba Maal in ‘All Of This Is Yours’, but it feels disjointed and clumsy. ‘Queen For The Day’ does bring back that acoustic guitar and energetic vocals, but immediately takes it away from you with it’s lacklustre and somewhat frustrating chorus.

The second half of the record brings with it the most highlights. ‘The Uprising’ is an interesting take on the political ballads artists like Frank Turner would most likely be notable for, bringing energy and an actual emotion to the sound – something that the record had been missing so far. ‘The Plot’ and closer ‘Morning Light’ sound like they could’ve easily fit into The Chronicles of… too, which is more annoying than anything as it shadows what this record could’ve been.

Ultimately, newcomers to Get Cape should start with The Chronicles of…, but at the end of the day, fans of Duckworth will get what they want out of the record after a few agonizing initial listens. But it won’t completely satisfy them. Instead, this long-player teases and prances around, never really settling down to just take time out from it’s constant and needless experimentation to make a solid pop song, which time has proved Duckworth does best. Progress and creativity is always welcomed in an artist’s work, but when it’s as confusing and puzzling as what happens in Get Cape…, it’s probably best to just stick to the status quo.