Short Reviews [ Plenty - 2021 - "Enough"]

Formed in 1986 from the ashes of Liverpool-based post-punk band A Better Mousetrap and Warrington art rockers After The Stranger, Plenty was a group that featured singer Tim Bowness immediately prior to him joining up with multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson to form No-man. Hearing this, one can immediately see where No-man came from as they are heavily influenced by The Blue Nile, Japan (in particular), Talk Talk, David Bowie, Eno, and Peter Gabriel, all with Tim’s vocals at the very heart of everything, bringing in the listener while the accompaniment is designed to be sparse and haunting, allowing his voice to shine. In 2018, Bowness and fellow original Plenty members Brian Hulse and David K Jones reunited to record and release the well-received album ‘It Could Be Home’, but for ‘Enough’ they took a slightly different approach in that the double CD is clearly divided into three different sections. First we have ‘Old’, which is a mini-album consisting of seven contemporary interpretations of '80’s Plenty songs not included on the reunion record. Then there is ‘Borrowed’, which contains five cover versions of material by It’s Immaterial, Suzanne Vega, The Teardrop Explodes, Kevin Coyne and Hank Williams with ‘Older’ completing the set, seven original Plenty demos dating from 1986 to 1990. I have always loved Tim’s vocals as there is something in his voice which calls to the listener, taking them to a special place, and this album highlights that yet again. The album sounds as if it has come to us from a place just a little more than 30 years ago, with Sylvain and friends being a major influence, and although many of the songs are at a slower pace, there are some such as Bleed A Little More” which demonstrates just how they can up the tempo. The accompaniment is often electronic and keyboard-based, while piano often has a part to play. The result is something which any fan of Bowness’s work will find much to enjoy.