7"
A new Peter Jefferies record - even just a simple song (though rarely are they such) - is a notable event around these parts whatever the weather, though this collaboration with Dutch artist Wio (aka Ingwio D'Hespeel) speaks to something else. So, where to start? Well.... On 2018's The Breakthrough Album, the ironically-titled first Wio album in 15 years, D'Hespeel was to include a cover of PJ's mighty, 'On An Unknown Beach'. Thanks to some especially proactive dot-connecting from Almost Halloween Time's Luigi Falagario, a copy of that record was to find its way to Jefferies, setting in motion a series of communications that would eventually produce this two song 7" single. Recorded against the backdrop of lockdown isolation, Red Glove exists at the intersection between fandom and collaboration, crucially without ever falling into reverence or solipsism. D'Hespeel's contribution is smart, a backseat driver providing the landscape against which Jefferies can colour in the details, his densely lonely voice and languorous melodies still rich with the gravitas he's spent a lifetime earning. It's a typically heavy two track pairing, equal parts beauty and grief, very much in the spirit of quieter parts of The Last Great Challenge In A Dull World, Jefferies all timer that kickstarted the whole affair. For the right listener, a perfect 7", better than you hoped it would be, as good as it should be given the man at the wheel.
