LOST ANIMAL - Ex Tropical LP

Includes download code.
Highly recommended. 

"Lost Animal is the first solo outlet for Jarrod Quarrell, previously of St Helens. Ex Tropical retains the dark sneer of the excellent St Helens album Heavy Profession, but lets in a bit of dirty funk, sunny calypso and icy electronica – elements that shouldn’t really work together at all. Quarrell plays around with a dark disco sound, not unlike the current directions taken by Geoffrey O’Conner and Darren Sylvester. But the end result, a satisfying twisting of St Helens’ hypnotic darkness into something more playful, is difficult to compare to anything else.

This is very much a solo affair, with a sparser electronic backdrop shedding a little more light on Quarrell’s sinister lyrics and distinctive vocal. But the album also benefits from having some great support musicians in tow. John Lee matches Quarrell’s multi-instrumentalist skills and co-produces the album. Shags Chamberlain (Pikelet, The Smallgoods) has a lot of fun with the bass throughout and also makes a great zombie - check out the gallows-humour clip for Say No To Thugs." - Chris Girdler (Beat)