The Strange Encounters – All In The Mind
Ports Of Call Music
CD/LP/DL
Released 7 June 2024
Debut album by the Berlin-based duo of singer and guitarist Joe Armstrong and Guido Kreutzmüller, who also provides vocals, percussion and other instrumentation. Ian Canty writes…
Both of the members of The Strange Encounters had built up a long track record in music prior to them teaming up. Glaswegian Joe Armstrong started out busking and had the kind of art school background that set many up for a future in Rock & Roll. Over the years he has played guitar in many outfits including Nikki Sudden’s Jacobites and Last Bandits. For his part Guido Kreutzmüller brought together his band Forest Four at the tail end of the 1980s. The pair came together fairly recently in Berlin, with both seeking the perfect vehicle for their own songs.
The first long playing fruits of their collaboration All In The Mind brings together 12 examples of breezy Folk Pop/Rock with Psychedelic and Indiepop touches. Don’t Hold Back moves All In The Mind into action, offering a bright and agreeable sound that gives one a decent introduction into what The Strange Encounters do. The tune is gentle but well paced and evocative, with an endearing hook that cosily embeds itself quickly into the mind. In addition to all that, there’s a little of jangle thrown in for good measure. This is smartly followed up by Recognise, which fades itself in before settling into another very attractive groove. Combined these two make for an accessible beginning to All In The Mind, something that the pared-down acoustic prettiness of Surveillance Town keys into. The ideal sound of hazy Summer afternoons really.
Under The Sun sets forth more assertively, speeding out of the blocks via some neat organ work and loud guitars crashes. Initial impressions point to The Faces, The Stones and Slim Chance roughly occupying a similar sonic neighbourhood as The Strange Encounters, but crucially they add their own slant. Different is more Pop and ballad-like in structure, the rolling piano acting as a nice contrast to the rowdy moments on the LP. Next An Hour Or A Day takes us to the halfway stage of All In The Mind with strings and a decided cinematic tinge.
Acapella and guitar alternate during the intro to They Keep Walkin’ On By, before it kicks into some fine Power(ful) Pop that has a genuine swagger and then a stylish Twenty Sixteen quickly establishes itself as an admirable demonstration of Armstrong and Kreutzmüller’s craft. A spunky rhythmic pull launches the rueful observations of Think’/Drinkin’ and A Smile For Everyone proves again that The SE are as at home with quiet reflection as they are with out and out Roots Rock stormers, as it is mainly achieved with just piano and vocals.
The Boy In The Mirror fuzzes along at a restrained tempo and plots a path that resolves itself with the refrain that named the LP “It’s all in the mind”. Long Lost Days brings down the curtain by veering very much towards Folk, with fiddle and guitar initially doing a large amount of the instrumental work. But there is beauty here too, a knack for Pop nous that The Strange Encounters demonstrate all the way through All In The Mind.
Being totally honest, there is not much on this album that is mind-blowingly original. But all of it is well-crafted, appealing and hugely listenable. The Strange Encounters imbue what they do with their own brand of warmth and empathy for the human condition and all its failings and do so in a melodic and attractive manner. That is great to witness here and one can be certain that good times are just around the corner after every body-blow they take. A promising first collection of charm and value.
The Strange Encounters’ website is here and their Facebook page is here
Get The Strange Encounters – All In The Mind here
slicing through the static 