Micko & The Mellotronics
The Trinity
Landline Records
CD | LP | DL available here
out 12 June 2026
Follow up to 2023’s Le Vice Anglais and the third album by the London-based art-pop band built around Micko Westmoreland and his songwriting. The best of the trilogy or just more curious, literate works of idiosyncratic genius? Ged Babey decides.
This is a fantastic album.
It’s the best album that Micko and co have released. Each one has seen subtle improvements on the last. It’s one of those albums which is a cohesive whole – ironically, despite having no less than six ‘single’ tracks available in the lead up to release.
It’s like Coming Up, Dirk Wears White Sox, Ziggy Stardust, Elastica’s or The Smiths eponymous debuts, the Correct Use of Soap, any of your favourite albums where every single song hits the spot. (I’m not gonna say ‘all killer/no filler’ because that is a cliché, but I just did and in this case it’s true.)
The guitars on this album just gleam: jagged but fluid, sharp yet tuneful. The rhythm section are solid, muscular yet lithe. No song outstays its welcome. Precision and conciseness are Micko’s trademark. And of course his lyricism.
“Now I’m dead, I’m hovering above you…” is one of the most striking lines in one of the songs. Always semi-autobiographical as his work is, this album goes from songs about childhood, adolescence and dealing with family disfunction, right through to having a parent with Alzheimer’s and an imagined afterlife taking stock.
Half of the album LTW has covered already: Nigel Carr reviewed the single Parked Car calling it…. another slice of Mickodelia with a beautiful Sixties’ Barry Gray style vibe running through it. Iain Key wrote about Proper Job – a retro glam anthem, and Would You Believe It – a spikey guitar driven number with one foot in the post punk / new wave era, accompanied by a black and white video punctuated with the occasions splash of colour.Wayne Carey reviewed Shadow which dives into Jungian psychology and I reviewed Guilty – the Ruth Ellis song – and for some reason everyone insisted I cover Misery Guts .- another of Westmorelands character studies in song. Human behaviour and disfunction under his microscope set to a nippy tune.
(Cue Press Release content…) “Micko & The Mellotronics paint a sonic picture with your ability to think and understand things, especially complicated ideas,” shared former producer for the Rolling Stones Chris Kimsey, who serves as executive producer on the record, “The raw, honest, emotive voice carries a posture and authenticity that resonate deeply, painting vivid pictures – the allure of city life and the comfort of your own front room.”
The album was recorded at home with contributions from Paul Cuddeford on lead guitar/E bow who augmented Micko’s compositions and contributed towards arrangements. The dynamic rhythm section is provided by the inventive yet solid Budge Magraw and Jan Noble (both Ex-Cesarians). Other performances across the album come from Arnulf Lindner (Ed Harcourt/Richard Ashcroft) who contributes a magnificent string arrangement to “When I’m Dead”, and Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey) who brings the record to a mystical climax with the outro to “Mystery of the Night”.
When I’m Dead and Mystery of the Night are the stand-out tracks in that they diverge from the short/sweet/fast formula of the other tracks. But as I said, this is a complete, start to finish listen, a proper album.
As a writer who has covered his output for ten years or more I despair that Micko remains an ‘underground’/ cult hero, appreciated by the few rather than many… Maybe because he is too smart for mass appeal, too gauche and too sophisticated at the same time. His work is more like a collection of short stories, Tales of the Unexpected, the Everyday and the Strange. His video are always interesting and add another layer.
Any album which has a song called Viva La Underdog is bound to be a winner in my book. It’s probably the best song that Pete Shelley never wrote and musically a psychedelic Buzzcocks from a different kitchen.
That’s What It’s All About incorporates camp 1234’s and has echoes of Magazine. All At Sea starts very Smiths but mutates into a Mod Adam & the Antz.
Micko’s voice has got stronger over the years and his intonation and vocal style is distinctive and engaging – finally transcending comparisons with Steve Harley and Andy Partridge. A settled Mellotronics line-up too means that the band, with the release of The Trinity, have finally got to the point where they have arrived and are at their absolute best.
Micko is considerably younger than my Boomer/Punk (blank) generation so should appeal to his Britpop generation who took Pulp and Suede to their hearts – but they seem so caught up in the nostalgia trap that ‘new’ bands don’t interest them… but somehow, someday they will discover him and his band who are in a Different Class and a band that connect the dots between drama, real life and self-analysis, with tunes to die for.
Next live date
17th July – Aces & Eights, London
For more information:
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Artwork credit: Garry Barker
All wordsGed Babeywith press release content in italics
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