Cameron Picton Debuts Experimental Project ‘My New Band Believe’

Following the dissolution of the influential group Black Midi, bassist and occasional frontman Cameron Picton has emerged with a sprawling, ambitious solo project. Titled My New Band Believe, the self-titled debut album arrives as a complex tapestry of baroque melodies and chamber-punk arrangements, marking a significant departure from his previous function.

The Origin of ‘My New Band Believe’

The project’s inception is rooted in a surreal experience during a 2023 tour of China with Black Midi. While battling a severe bout of food poisoning and confined to his hotel room, Picton experienced delirious visions of fragmented text and images. The phrase “My New Band Believe” resonated most strongly during this period, eventually becoming the name of both the collective and the debut album as detailed by Far Out Magazine.

Sonic Architecture and Composition

Picton’s debut is characterized by its “maximalist” approach, yet it is governed by strict self-imposed limitations. To maintain control over the sprawling arrangements, Picton ensured that almost everything on the record is acoustic with minimal reverb according to NME. This creates a tension between the grand scale of the music and a raw, intimate sonic quality.

Key Musical Elements:

• Diverse Instrumentation: The album features a mix of pianos, strings, woodwinds, harpsichords, and guitars.
• Experimental Recording: Some tracks utilize unconventional settings. for example, a piano line on “Love Story” was improvised in the clock tower of London’s St. Pancras station.
• Complex Narratives: Picton moved away from linear storytelling, instead writing lyrics that approach intertwining narratives from multiple perspectives via Pitchfork.

A Shifting Collective of Collaborators

Rather than a traditional band structure, My New Band Believe operates as a constantly shifting collective. Picton has employed a vast cast of musicians to achieve the album’s sonic diversity, including members of the experimental band caroline, Charlie Wayne of Black Country, New Road, and Josh Finerty of shame per Far Out Magazine.

Picton has shared a “numerological analysis” of the record to highlight the scale of the production, noting that the album took 29 days to record across 11 studios, involving 22 musicians, 21 singers, and 9 engineers. The collaborators’ ages ranged from 21 to 66 as reported by Pitchfork.

Key Takeaways

• Artist: Cameron Picton (formerly of Black Midi).
• Album Title: My New Band Believe.
• Label: Rough Trade.
• Style: A blend of chamber-punk, baroque melodies, and acoustic maximalism.
• Collaborators: A revolving door of musicians, including members of caroline and Black Country, New Road.

Looking Forward

With a debut that resists easy interpretation and embraces “episodic and strange” song structures, Cameron Picton has established himself as a crucial voice in modern indie rock. As the project moves into live performances, the collective nature of the band remains, with Picton potentially utilizing different sets of musicians for each show.