The reviewer who likened Windmill to Neil Young fronting the Flaming Lips ,or something like that, is spot on because that is exactly what Windmill sound like. Matthew Thomas Dillon who to all ends and purposes is Windmill has a voice , like a more fragile on the edge James Blunt ,that will alienate a lot of listeners-as another review proves- but if you can get past that there is plenty on Puddle City Racing Lights worth paying attention to. Just don't try singing along .
Most of the songs are centred around plangent piano but that is only a framework on which a fulsome array of instrumentation is draped. Thickly corded strings ,keyboards, brass , harmonium , guitars , fleshy percussion and intermittent vocal backing give most of the songs a staunch structure. Some nice tunes help as well.
So when it all gels like on "Asthmatic", "Tokyo Moon", "Boarding Lounges" or "Fluorescent Lights" the album has a slightly quirky dynamic quality . The melodies are all slightly off kilter and their skewed appeal may prove elusive at first but persevere and a song like "Plasticine Plugs" with its stop/start percussive arrangement starts to approximate sense. Some songs however , and they tend to be the more sparse tracks like "The Planning Stopped" or "Tilting Trains", lack the sonic invention and vigour of the rest of the album. It doesn't help that these songs tend to highlight Dillon's vocal limitations either.
"Puddle City Racing Lights" is a wonderfully idiosyncratic album with an emotional magnetism helped by some clever arch lyrics. There are also traces of Mercury Rev, Plush(Another hugely individual singer .songwriter) Arcade Fire...you could even make a case for Joanna Newsome. What is under no doubt that here is an artist very much standing apart from the usual raft of troubadour singer songwriter types and that alone makes him worthy of attention.