Amanda Mack
I didn’t plan on bringing actor Peter Capaldi’s Oscar into this review of St. Christopher, but it’s relevant, I promise. Between 1993 and 1994, Capaldi collected multiple accolades for the short film he wrote and directed, Franz Kafka’s It’s A Wonderful Life. That culminated in him winning the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1995. It could be argued he would have more recognition for his work behind the camera had the world of moving pictures not needed him in front of it to play a sweary political spin doctor, the most lovable loser in the world (this description has multiple correct answers), and a handsome alien who travels space and time in the most recognizable British police box in the history of sci-fi. But the writing credits peppered in over Capaldi’s career show the heart of a bard beating inside of the Scottish thespian. And the fact that it’s relatively easy to find video of him somehow coyly yet skillfully owning on guitar proves that an album wasn’t just written in the stars, it was chiseled.
St. Christopher is lyrically stunning. The imagery is intriguing and lush but contained, making each track feel like its own little vignette that Capaldi recites with emphatic vibrato. In “Atlanta Vacant Lot,” after a choral lead-in from an all-female chorus, Capaldi raves, “I’m the picture on the mantle, I’m the ship that never sailed/ I’m the jet above the valley, I’m the drifting vapour trail/I’m the crazy on the corner, shouting, ‘Beauty shop and nails'”.
Capaldi has mentioned in interviews that this was written during his time in Atlanta, Georgia whilst shooting The Suicide Squad. I don’t know what part of Atlanta he was observing when he wrote this, I’m not even sure what he was looking at, but I’m convinced I could put those verses into Google Maps and get directions to the exact area he wrote about. Capaldi’s presence in each song takes form as a narrator type. Even when he sings from a first-person perspective, there’s a sense that he’s approaching each scene with such a strong sense of captivation that he rewrites the events to retell them with himself as the main character. And that’s okay. Not every artist needs to bleed directly onto their art the way Sondre Lerche did on his album Please or even the way Bo Burnham does with his comedy. The songs work better with him acting as an interloper, showing up to these episodes instead of being the true protagonist of them.
He’s always been an intensely private figure. Any professions of a profound emotional nature at this stage would have felt a little disconcerting. The coloring of these scenes is painted across a canvas of his influences, all with very big, unambiguous strokes. Without having to try too hard, you will hear definite hints of late-era Bowie or some very now-era Nick Cave stirring about in the delivery of his sprechgesang style. You will hear 80s new wave driving the energy of “It’s Not Over Until It’s Over” next to the 60s era soul in the undercurrent of “A Little Bit of Class”.
Normally, I don’t make notes about the mixing of an album unless there’s something distractingly good about it or something distractingly bad. Capaldi’s vocals are treated with some very heavy reverb on just about every track, but on a few of them where it’s less busy instrumentally, he’s nearly buried in it. It could have been a decision made to lend to the atmosphere of the album or, more likely, it could have been applied to be used as a little sonic spackling. No one that listens to St. Christopher is going to come away thinking Capaldi’s a bad singer, but in comparison to his sharp writing and fantastic work on the guitar, his vocal performance is his most unrefined on the album. While it’s charming and very true to his punk rock roots (they exist, and they involve Craig Ferguson), there may have been concern that it would not push through the mix the way it needed to. Boosting vocals with reverb is a fairly common practice, but Capaldi sounds like he got tossed into a deep and empty well where he was forced to record the vocals on “In Every Face” and “The Great Magnificence”. Thankfully, most of that can be overcome by not giving the songs space to bounce around in the acoustics of a room. Keeping this album in headphones or earbuds is highly recommended.
As of this writing, Capaldi has not hinted at any desire to work on a sophomore effort. Dr. Robert of The Blow Monkeys, who encouraged his good friend to put out an album at the ripe and ready age of 63 and went on to produce it, is already thinking about the future, though. He offered his excitement to work with Capaldi again via Twitter. “I think its [sic] an incredible album. Full of mystery and joy and love and depth. A baroque masterpiece ? Fuck yeah. Lets do it again one day.”
Here’s to hoping Dr. Robert can work his powers of persuasion once more. St. Christopher is available through Monks Road Records. Below, listen to the aptly titled opening track, “Beautiful and Weird”.
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