Although The Wrong Object was formed in the early 2000s, it was not until 2006 that their first album came out, when they collaborated with the iconic and legendary Elton Dean on ‘The Unbelievable Truth’. A couple more albums followed in quick succession, but then there was a gap until 2013, and releases have been somewhat sporadic since then, but given how the musicians are also involved in other bands, that is not surprising at all. What we have here is not a new album, but rather a collection of ten previously unreleased or unavailable compositions, most of them rescued from flash drives, minidisc recordings, and reel-to-reel tapes. Some of it was recorded in the studio, some at gigs, and while they are often planned recordings, there are also some here that were recorded by a fan. According to the label, these recordings are mostly before the band began to stabilize around founder Michel Delville and drummer Laurent Delchambre, but what it doesn’t tell me is who is involved in each song or where they come from.
All I know for sure is that Michel Delville is on all of them, as he was a founder, and that Andrew Norris (who was in a short-lived duet with Michel) is featured here on several tracks as a slide guitarist and a lyricist alongside singer Isabelle Doyen. But that is it. That the music is enthralling, exciting is never in doubt, as I am a huge fan of Michel and all the groups he is involved with, but I do wish I knew who was providing the wonderful brass, or the dynamic percussion and drums. I dare anyone not to bounce along to the driving “Wet Weather Wet” (any similarities to the Batman theme are to be ignored) as here we have a band cooking, really cooking, yet they can drop into some a different time signature or style at any time, so while one thinks they know in which direction the music is going to turn it could change dramatically at any time. That lack of knowing what is going on is what makes this so exciting as the different musicians all lock in to take us on an unexpected journey, one which we will all be much richer for the taking. This may be taking us back to the beginning of The Wrong Object, but it is an absolute delight, and I can only hope we get more collections like this as well as a new album (it has been six years now, guys, we are due another). Exciting, avant-garde experimental, RIO, jazz, call it what you like, this is essential.
8/10 Kev Rowland
