Maps is essentially a Mr. James Chapman who lives in lovely Northampton. I read a review in a left-field indie mag that proclaimed his music to be influenced by the towers and peaks of the town of his residence. That makes it sound like a romantic and artistic town, have they ever been to Northampton? It’s a town where the industry that once kept it going has disappeared, tearing the heart out of a once important industrial town to be replaced by a Weatherspoons and shoddy market. The old jobs replaced by new, hi-tech jobs from the likes of Barclaycard and Panasonic. Maps reflects this new aspect of the town, a town looking forward and not backwards. We Can Create suddenly seems like a poignant title for this debut album, whether it’s meant to or not.

The music pitches itself somewhere between the ambient soundscapes created by M83 and the more emotive songs of The Album Leaf. The bubbling of electronica, the gentle beats and keyboards throb and chime through the album creating a feeling of weightlessness and brightness. Opening track So Low, So High soars and sweeps through its strings and fuzzed up guitar, the vocals sounding not unlike Air in their gentle and high pitched, slightly polished, manner. It’s an uplifting song that bursts to life like the image on the album cover, immersing you in shards of light. I was a bit unkind about the leading single It Will Find You on our singles review a couple of weeks ago, but in the context of the album it really works, you get a feel for what Chapman is trying to say. The clipped beats and rotating keyboards all work together creating an almost robotic anthem reminding me of Ladytron’s recent efforts. Sometimes it gets a bit too bogged down in the emotive and gentle electronica like Glory Verse. Chapman’s voice is bare, accompanied by just some quiet keyboards and it doesn’t quite work. It’s just a bit too quiet and uninvolving, Chapman’s voice isn’t strong enough to be left open and naked. Whilst Lost My Soul suffers from too much polish, the woozy electronica trying a little too hard to impress and brushes right over you.

However, tracks like Liquid Sugar and Back & Forth that bounce along with their processed beats and interesting strokes of keyboards, help bolster these moments and help create an album that works well as a complete entity. The tracks all feel part of one theme and artistic vision. Maybe not quite as cinematic an experience as M83, but it certainly matches James LaValle’s recent efforts with The Album Leaf. If only the OC was still on, Maps might find himself a whole new fanbase very quickly indeed, in fact the song Elouise would perfectly suit the end credits for an episode where, on a sunny beach, two lovers walk hand-in-hand.
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Links
Maps [myspace]