An experiment in personal expression and music for coming on ten years, Capsul, is the semi-solo project of James, who forms half of indie darlings Carb on Carb.

With his latest release, Clarity, James has taken some musical direction from his more famous band and released an album almost devoid of the sombre tone and existential despair of previous releases.

So much so, that this is a walk home album, to be enjoyed in those moments between the office cubicle and the urine stench of the elevator up to my shoebox apartment.   

Clarity is still in the DIY bedroom pop style we've come to expect, but is a lot more put together, and therefore more palatable, than earlier efforts, like 2009's regress, regress, an album that couldn't get much more experimental, save for substituting instruments for cats. That was an album dark enough to be mentioned next to Joy Division and Sunken Seas. That was a walk to work album!

The music styling of Clarity is some sort of stripped-back shoegaze. All but gone is the 80s New Wave tribute sound and the hiding behind a reverb pedal. They have been replaced by 90s garage pop tales of love, loss and looking around. It's an album as honest, bare and unpretentious as they come.

Relatable or not, the songs are insights into James' character and psyche. Odes to moments, the songs are short lived and fleeting, like the emotions from which they come, but that's all they're meant to be. Moments of music to be enjoyed until James next feels something worth singing about.

If you've just got home from a hell of a day making money for someone else, Clarity is the record you should put on, watching the clouds gently encroach on the blue of the summer sky.

You can find Clarity on the Capsul Bandcamp  and their extensive back catalogue on the Papaiti website (for free no less).

• 1
  Devilskin
• 2
  Coridian
• 3
  Take Hold
• 4
  Shihad
• 5
  Skinny Hobos
• 6
  Written By Wolves
• 7
  Katchafire
• 8
  The Feelers
• 9
  Villainy
• 10
  Blindspott

• 
  Hollow Ground @ 8 Ball, New Plymouth - 24/05/2024
• 
  Corrella @ Powerstation, Auckland - 25/05/2024
• 
  Black Comet @ Powerstation, Auckland - 25/05/2024
• 
  DJ Sir-Vere @ Powerstation, Auckland - 25/05/2024

• 1
  MILLION DOLLAR BABY
  Tommy Richman
• 2
  NOT LIKE US
  Kendrick Lamar
• 3
  LUNCH
  Billie Eilish
• 4
  A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
  Shaboozey
• 5
  I HAD SOME HELP
  Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen
• 6
  CHIHIRO
  Billie Eilish
• 7
  ESPRESSO
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 8
  TOO SWEET
  Hozier
• 9
  BIRDS OF A FEATHER
  Billie Eilish
• 10
  SKINNY
  Billie Eilish

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