This is a blog post.

Matching Mole have re-entered my radar in the last few months after the release of Robert Wyatt's Comicopera in the dog end of last year. Matching Mole was formed by Wyatt in 1971, two years before he fell from a balcony and was paralysed from the waist down. Matching Mole had four members, one of them David Sinclair from psychedelic proggers Caravan. The name 'Matching Mole' is a play on Machine Molle, which is French for Soft Machine, whom Wyatt had just departed company with. They only lasted two years and two albums, along with a handful of releases in the last decade or so.

"Signed Curtain" is from the bands self-titled debut, released a year after forming. It was composed almost entirely by Wyatt, as is most of the album, and features his voice audibly weaker than it sounds now - on the brink of something; clutching at clumps of grass to stop himself slipping over the edge.

The lyrics are relflective, literally: "this is the first verse/this is the first verse/this is the first, the first first first" They feature only statements like this, tracking the song through its stages; bridge, chorus, verse. But Wyatt becomes more unsure of where he's up to as the song continues, losing the conviction he started with, in a way that feels daft and tragic all at once.

Accompanied by simple piano and no percussion "Signed Curtain" is remarkably moving, with all emotional content directly generated by Wyatt's vocals. The gradual sense of loss dissolves the silliness the song began with, ending the song on the lyrics - "or perhaps its the bridge/or just another key change?/never mind,it doesnt hurt/it only means that I/lost faith in this song/it wont help me, retune."

Matching Mole - Signed Curtain

Wyatt's most recent album Compicopera is available everywhere, and is really very good. It featured on lots of End Of Year Lists and comes highly recommended by me.