There’s something kind of funny about this one. Not the music itself—but the timing.
Because here we are again, talking about Andy Whitaker… for the second time this year. That’s not something I expected when I hit publish on my earlier piece on The Black & White Detective and the Technicolour Cowboy review. This time around, with Weaveworld’s self-titled album, the mood shifts. Same creative thread, totally different headspace.
That contrast is what makes this new album resonate.
That lines up closely with what Andy talked about in the Coffee Thoughts interview—that whole idea of not forcing songs, of letting them evolve naturally over time. You get the sense these tracks weren’t rushed into existence. They feel lived-in.
This new album feels reflective. A little ghostly around the edges. You can hear the years in it, but not in a nostalgia way. More like ideas that have been sitting quietly, waiting for the right moment to surface. This is the band that rose up from the ashes of The Sun and the Moon – the same band, really, sans singer Mark Burgess. It’s a fascinating chapter for the band. Weaveworld is / was Andy Clegg, Andy Whitaker, Graham Atkinson, and John Lever (RIP).
And yeah, some of these songs have technically been around in earlier forms. Cyanide For The Bride, for example, has been reworked and revisited before landing here in its current form. That kind of patience shows. Nothing here feels like filler—it all feels deliberate.
Poll Tax Woman opens the album with a nice slab of melody infused post punk. It reminds me of The Chameleons (there’s a reason for that!). It sets the tone for the rest of the album nicely. Cyanide For The Bride has a hazy, dreamlike tension. Lyrically, it drifts between memory and nightmare, and musically it leans into that slow-burn atmosphere that Weaveworld does so well. Davy Jones (yes, THAT Davy Jones) is a bit more playful on the surface but still rooted in that unmistakable tone. The guitars really shine here—there’s a fluidity to it that feels almost effortless. It’s one of the more immediate tracks, but it still carries that underlying strangeness. “Hey hey we’re Weaveworld” – not in the song, but I couldn’t help myself. End Of The Season hits differently. There’s a quiet melancholy running through. The passage of time and that end-of-summer feeling where everything starts to cool off. It’s subtle, but it lingers. Intimidation closes the album in a way that feels unresolved, but intentionally so. Lyrically, it is a bit darker than the songs preceding.
What makes this album interesting, especially in the context of hearing two Whitaker-related releases in one year, is how different the intent feels. This isn’t trying to grab you immediately. It’s asking you to spend time with it.
And if you do, it gives a lot back.
For Fans of: The Chameleons, The Sound, Echo & The Bunnymen, Interpol, U2
Tracks
- Poll Tax Woman
- Out And Down
- Elements
- Davy Jones
- Cyanide For The Bride
- Waken
- Perfect Day
- End Of The Season
- Remember A Day
- Open Up My Eyes
- Heavenly Bride
- Intimidation