A. G. Cook - Britpop

In a career full of dizzying innovation and a relentless desire to constantly move forward, A. G. Cook's third solo record 'Britpop' might just be the visionary producer's grandest and most ambitious statement yet.

With a firmly established legacy of future pop experimentation with his PC Music label, A. G. is now taking the opportunity to dig ever deeper into his brilliant mind with a three-disc odyssey into the sonic wonderland of what Britpop is or can be within his own kaleidoscopic sonic prism.

The three discs are separated into Past, Present and Future, and they feel like all-encompassing summations of what has made his music so vital. The past is full of that classic glitchy hyper pop sound with a focus on massive euphoric ravey climaxes like 'Luddite Factory Operator'. The future is a rollercoaster of sounds and emotions that careens across a warped sonic landscape with an ornate elegiac beauty lifting a track like closer 'Out Of Time' to a very special transcendent plane. It also features longtime collaborator Charli XCX and the filtered voice of Addison Rae on the slinky pop of 'Lucifer'.

The most interesting part of the project, though, is the Present disc in which A. G. filters his love for people like Britpop OGs Blur into some weird idiosyncratic lo-fi alt-pop songs with a warm heart and a deep soul, like the warm fuzzy rock of 'Bewitched' or the sweet and tender tribute to much missed legendary producer Sophie as he interpolates the lyrics to her song 'Bipp'. It's a heart-stoppingly human moment amongst many on an album that is both conceptual and deeply resonant.

Less sprawling and all-encompassing than his previous seven-disc opus '7G' and its curious partner 'Apple' released in 2020, 'Britpop' feels like the perfect encapsulation of A. G. Cook, the artist.