Chirality - Michael Canning (Ghostjogger Records)
Michael Canning, a UK-based New Zealand scientist and occasional multi-instrumental character, has released his fourth LP. Which is joyful, groovy, interesting and downright fun.
The word "chirality" comes from the Greek “kheir”, meaning “hand”; a familiar chiral object. It's a term used by chemistry and physics characters. To quote a textbook: "Stereoisomers are isomers that differ in spatial arrangement of atoms, rather than order of atomic connectivity. One of their most interesting type of isomer is the mirror-image stereoisomers, a non-superimposable set of two molecules that are mirror image of one another. The existence of these molecules are determined by concept known as chirality."
But you knew that, right?
Needless to say, Canning must've found the concept intriguing in a broader sense, because his lyrics explore a pile of things - place and placement, therefore origin, change, transformation. As he puts it most succinctly in his press release: "creation, maturity, and senescence".
I know, I know, all of this intellectual stuff is enough to have you reaching for your bottle of Beam. Don't.
Reach instead for “Chirality” which is somewhere between forceful and whimsical, lovely and pert. If "Chirality" was a human they'd be a switched-on modern hippy (in other words, clean, drug-free and interested in local wildlife).
In a nutshell, “Chirality” is groovy without being overtly in-your-face. It'll sit well in the car as you go, a pulsing yet calming influence; it will make a cold room cosy and a too-hot room cool. It's difficult to explain why.
I know enough about Michael to know that he's a big Stooges and MC5 fan - you probably wouldn't pick that at all. He's also a for-real bat-scientist. You'd never know that, either.
What he is is bloody talented. I've had “Chirality” on repeat for a couple of hours now and I'm reluctant to give too much away. You'll think 'Sixties', but you might also think "Miles Davis". It's a pop LP, it's a laid-back murmur of life itself. While 'Chirality' has a number of moods, they all fold back within each other, which is quite an achievement.
Shout-out to Wayne Bennett's fine guitar on “The Florist” and the title track.
There ain't that many copies made, so get your card out and get with it.
1/2
