Anyone who followed The Beta Band's wayward, zigzagging progress throughout a career that now seems woefully short will understand that a phrase such as 'expect the unexpected' was about the best rule of thumb when approaching each of these reluctant heroes' new releases.
So you won't need me to tell you that ex-Beta Band mainstay Steve Mason is liable to employ a similar, catch-all stylistic approach to his songs. Indeed, the very fact that he's about to go out on the road with "Hot Shots II" producer C Swing and has shot the video for this new single in a disused nuclear bunker informs you that the shine is nowhere being scraped off Mason's wayward brilliance.
The txt-bothering "C I Am 15" itself is, of course, equally baffling, encompassing what can only be described as a clunky, acid house-addled lope which works as a straight dance track as well as an offbeat indie/ pop affair. After a few plays, its' minimal edge does begin to haul you in, however, and the underlying feel of political intrigue begins to make sense, especially when Mason mutters stuff like "Don't you worry about the cost of it all" like a low-key David Byrne and guest rapper TopCat takes over with a sizzling, anti-Bush'n'Blair invective at roughly 2 mins 15 in. Actually, it's more of a venomous toast (a la Godlike individuals like I-Roy) rather than a straight rap, but it works well within the goalpost-moving context and leads into a delightfully Machiavellian cackle to send us off.
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"C I Am 15", then, is a bewildering, but wholly enigmatic and absorbing affair. As ever, it's as stylistically slippery to pin down as a barrel of greased eels, but then half of the fun is diving in and getting muddy as you play catch up, isn't it?
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