Paul Draper - Cult leader Tactics

I met Paul Draper recently at an in store to promote his new album, at that titan of the independents Rough Trade East. I feel at home in Shoreditch, but Paul carries with him a sort of laid back discomfort, that makes me wonder in what place he feels comfortable. He comes across as an enlightened and more sophisticated Eeyore. We had a brief exchange, because I was there having a fanboy / girl moment getting my album signed. He was surprised that his music was my perfect companion for cooking. “Isn’t it a bit depressing for that, what do you make?”, “Oh I just throw anything in, fusion stuff”, “Well that explains it” Maybe I should have been clever and said I liked to cook fish.

I maintain that Paul Draper’s new album 'Cult leader Tactics' is great to listen to while cooking, but also great at other times too. It falls into that category of music I would listen to, to block out the rest of humanity, to help me survive my commute. Other occasions would be drinking tea or just bumming out with some cans over my ears contemplating life. The idea behind the new album is sold as ; “a satire on the genre of self-help manuals, it details how to get to the top of your chosen profession, or how to get on in life in general and in affairs of the heart, by acting in a Machiavellian manner and employing dirty tricks or ‘Cult leader Tactics’ to achieve your life goals.

'Cult leader Tactics' feels like a lament to the decay of morality, which is taking place in our society under a facade of cringe worthy virtue signalling. It is like lifting up a rock to take a look at human behaviour and watching the woodlice and worms scatter. He sings about cognitive dissonance, the sleaze in politics in the track ‘Internationalle’, and the everyday sleaziness of being human, in ‘Lyin bout who you sleep With’. There are worms under every rock. Living is the act of being subjected to corrupting forces. To get ahead in this world we have to appear to be playing by the rules, but the only way to win this game is by playing dirty tricks.

Paul Draper has something important to say about the mores of our society, mass manipulations are taking place every day through the cult of personality. Through the exploitation of power dynamics, limitations are placed on our personal sovereignty. Our own dreams are crushed on the alter of someone else’s greed. This depressed rebel and cynic is offering us a whole lot more to think about than cranberry juice. He takes us on a journey from the political with a capital P - to the personal with a small p. As all humans are political animals by nature, the transition from Boris and Trump, to the record industry, to personal relationships are all bound together by the same threads.

The album has substance for sure but what about the sound? I loved it, but I biased as a fan of his music. Musically it not groundbreaking within it’s genre and it has a few rough edges, particularly noticeable in the second track ‘Internationalle’. To a musical ear there appears to be an error with the timing, but it actually adds to the overall texture of the track. I like to think of it in a Wabi Sabi way. The beauty of a thing is in the imperfections. How many mastered versions of albums have you heard that simply lost their soul, perfection is overrated for sure and unattainable. The album has a carefully crafted flow, with some nice instrumentals between a few of the tracks to help us transit through the album.

Stating the obvious: this was made to be listened to as an album, and not as single tracks. ‘Dirty Trix’ and ‘You’ve got no life skills, Baby’ take us from the big p to the more personal p. There is more of the Paul people will be familiar with, from Manson in these tracks. ‘You’ve got no life skills, Baby’ looks at manipulation within relationships and manipulation using sex as a theme. You can also throw the track ‘Annie’ into this bag, but it has more feeling of a real loss within it. ‘You killed my Fish’ explores the death of dreams or libido, or both through nonsense lyrics about fish. It has some nice bubble sounds in the background to make us feel like we might be the ones in the fish bowl.

'Omega Man' is one of the most intriguing tracks on the album, Paul Draper co-wrote this track with Steven Wilson. Steven Wilson, in case you haven’t heard of him, has worked with Elton John, Black Sabbath and Marillion. Steve has also released six solo albums, and has had as many nominations for Grammies. The song is a reflection on lockdown as a surreally dystopian event. The title is a nod to the movie ‘Omega Man’, which is set in a post apocalyptic future in which a global pandemic has wiped out most of humanity. The video is insanely genius - saying something without having to say something, it is set in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine. 'Omega Man' is also an archetype, a human who prefers to do their own thing that neither follows nor leads... otherwise known as a lone wolf. Like capturing lightening in a bottle this album captures the zeitgeist of a post ‘Great’ Britain renegotiating a position in the international World order, amidst the pandemic, and while edging closer to the precipice of a war with Russia. I am giving this album five stars for personality, and the fact it makes my food taste good.

Review by Dezadie

The new album is available on CD and Vinyl formats by clicking on this link: https://PaulDraper.tmstor.es

Check Out! the Video for 'Omega Man' Feat. Steven Wilson Below...