Mozart Parties: "Black Cloud"

James Bennett is Mozart Parties, set on emulating Wolfgang Amadeus: The Rheumatic Fever Years by recording songs about depression from his bedroom in Kirky Lonsdale. “Depression is a terrible thing,” claimed Stephen Fry once. “I’ve been depressed for fourteen years; can’t shake it off. My wife says I should kill myself but that’s just the coward’s way out. Did try it once, though: locked myself in the garage, started the car… bloody thing had a catalytic converter on it. Came out after seven hours with only a slight headache. Still, mustn’t grumble.” Mozart Parties share a similar sense of humour, with Bennett striving to create mournful music that’s as disco-friendly as possible. It’s not very often you come across a pop song as angsty as it is cajoling. It’s so rare in fact that Bennett’s now moved to London to see if he can out-gloom the big guns, like Morrissey, and half the population.

“Black Cloud” gives him a good head start, using flowery guitar to disguise itself as backing music from an Austin Powers movie (in fact, this would’ve fitted nicely over the sad scene in the first film had Burt Bacharach refused to play ball). “It’s impossible to break out / When you’re a prisoner to breakdowns,” groans Bennett, apparently ignorant of the beautiful backing girls ooohing on stage behind him. If that’s a breakdown, draw my curtains and pack away my social life! A keyboard keeps time with a polka beat, scratching around the melodic bass line until the two balance out neatly, spawning a gorgeous four minutes of psychedelic pop. Bennett’s still not happy, though: “Or I’m just making it a black cloud,” he hums, sulking in the face of all those delights like a moody kid being served strudel. If you want something to make you shout “Pull yourself together” or are just looking for the dictionary definition of bittersweet, look no further than this.