Duke Special - Oh Pioneer

Over his long career, Duke Special’s charismatic and flamboyant chamber pop has not really met much mainstream success, although he has previously confessed that it does not appeal to him anyway. His platinum selling second album ‘Songs from the Deep Forest’ came the closest - earning nominations for both Meteor and Choice Music Prize awards. However, if Duke (real name Peter Wilson) were to have another crack at the charts, tenth record ‘Oh Pioneer’ might be his best bet: 11 breezy tracks about heartache easily being his most accessible since ‘Songs From The Deep Forest’.

Wilson writes songs that could easily keep his stadium counterparts on their toes - tracks like ‘Lost Chord’ and ‘Always Been There’ both shelter a near-anthemic quality that Coldplay and Keane made trademark in their earlier days. Elsewhere, ‘Nothing Shall Come Between Us’ suits the wintery seasons well, a rousing piano medley befitting the warmth of an oaky fireplace.

With all that said, long-time fans will be happy that Wilson has not lost any of his more adventurous characteristics. For instance, the dramatic ‘Snakes in the Grass’ sounds like a vaudevillian cover of a Queen track while ‘My Lazy Saviour’ borrows that ominous drumbeat from Wild Beasts’ ‘Plaything.’ Even more striking are the lyrics. Covering everything from “A banned Iranian Children’s book about a fish” in ‘Little Black Fish’ to stirring juxtapositions in ‘Colourful’ (“I’m a pin drop / I am Phil Spector”), Duke’s way with words is gracefully wholehearted.

It is easy to see that Wilson could easily reach chart-worthy heights if he chooses to. He may have shrugged off any intentions of achieving such major commercial success but ‘Oh Pioneer’ proves once again that he can comfortably fit there if he desires.