An angel's wings in cool night air

The Spinning Top - Graham Coxon
I am obliged to start by saying that I believe in my heart and soul that Graham Coxon has Godlike genius and so I am predisposed to like his creative output. The only question is where will each offering sit on the scale between 'like this' and 'love this'.
Within two hours of first hearing seventh-solo album The Spinning Top I was gushing about it on Twitter to anyone who would listen. I wanted to tweet a thank you to the man himself (I still might). God, part of me wanted to knock on my neighbours doors and thrust home-burned copies of this on them simply to make their lives richer (what stopped me was the lateness of hour and the dourness of some of the faces behind some of those doors).
You could say that it has headed directly toward the 'love' end of my self-made spectrum of El Coxo recordings.
There is much which has been said elsewhere and more eloquently than I can here but to recap: Graham has been quietly but consistently releasing solo material while in and since leaving Blur. This latest comes just months before he joins his old band mates in massive reconciliatory gigs.
The Spinning Top moves Graham's style and direction on - previous albums have straddled his love of scuzzed up lo-fi (The Golden D), grating melodic riff (Happiness in Magazines) and an unlikely but wonderous fusion of Motown and punk (Love Travels At Illegal Speeds) all over-laid with his quiet and distinctive vocal.
Springing from teaching himself the finger-picked style this concept album (which runs from birth to death over the course of 15 songs) is more folksy, more whimsical, quieter but still with a subtle dark undertow.
There are some perfect moments on this album - In The Morning meanders through green and pleasant fields to the Orient and back just as quick; Dead Bees gives a grunge fuzz to the picking and Feel Allright picks up where Love Travels left off both lyrically and melodically. Is this enough to gloss over the noodliness of the long solos which appear throughout? Just...
This began, after all, as a man learning a new skill. On first listen it may seem indulgent in places but repeated plays make sense of the drone, hiss and sparse arrangement which previously jarred. As a musical journey through life it reflects accurately the quieter, sadder, less perfect moments which pass by us all. Just as it seems to be getting too overwraught it is balanced by warmer, more comforting tones (Tripping Over)
Not as pop or thrashed out or pogo-able as some previous offerings but why should it be? I feel I have known this album for years and look forward to it keeping me company until the next musical journey Graham takes me on.