New Artist Alert: Pagan Wanderer Lu

If you're at all familiar with the London gig scene then you've probably already heard of Pagan Wanderer Lu. There's certainly been a lot of mentions on sites like Drowned In Sound, and not only because of the enthusiastic plugging of the guy releasing his material. The man in question is of course the venerable John Brainlove, who released a new six song PWL mini album, The Independent Scrutineer on his own Brainlove Records this past monday.

PWL presents a sort of Helen Loveish mixture of indie pop and casiopop/folktronica/whateva-you-wanna-call-it with the pov of a proper singer songwriter. I say singer/songwriter because there's a lot of actual personality going on and personally I think his stuff stands out a lot from some of the other (more scenesterish) casio style bands/artists flooding the capital at the moment. Another comparison might be some of the more recent Luke Haines solo material, like his recent Going Off My Rocker At The Art School Bop single, or in PWL's more reflective moments, perhaps the calm, poised tones of a Jens Lekman. Over the length of the record there's a good mixture of upbeat tracks with more contemplative fare (particularly on the rather ace Repetition 1), and in general barrels of sheer talent and potential, which we can only hope pays off further in the future.

You might have already heard the lead track/single Repetition 2 from PWL's myspace, so below is another taster of the mini album. If you like it, as I do (it's certainly the best thing from Bolton since...anything), make sure you go support independent music and check out the Brainlove shop.

Pagan Wanderer Lu - Our New Hospital Sucks