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May 01, 2023 Web Exclusive By Dom Gourlay

Stephen Lawrie has always maintained an artistic vision far beyond many of his peers and contemporaries so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Experimental Health heralds yet another reinvention for The Telescopes.

Essentially a solo record; Experimental Health was recorded solely by Lawrie in a remote West Yorkshire cottage during the first half of 2022. Using a combination of broken toys, pocket operators, and miniature synths, Lawrie has created a record that is conceptual in its outlook without becoming a traditional concept album.

As its title suggests, Experimental Health deals with subject matters ranging from dementia (“Repetitive Brain Injury”) and health legislation (“45e”) to preventing bedsores (“The Turns”). All of which are set to a menacing soundtrack that recalls the likes of Broadcast or Pram in its execution without particularly sounding like either.

Elsewhere, “Leave Nobody Behind” and “Wrong Dimension” take the form of progressive electronic mantras while the two-and-a-bit minutes improvisation “The Turns Again” brings the record to a close.

As with previous Telescopes releases, Experimental Health is both an unsettling and rewarding listen that sits proudly alongside some of Lawrie’s finest works. Furthermore, with another long player For Tomorrow due in May, Lawrie and The Telescopes’ prolific nature could ensure 2023 becomes his and their finest year to date. (www.thetelescopes.bandcamp.com)

Author rating: 8.5/10