Phil Cooper is Playing Solitaire

Trowbridge singer-songwriter and one third of The Lost Trades, Phil Cooper has actually been doing more than playing solitaire, he’s released a new solo album called Playing Solitaire…..

Released yesterday (2nd May) Playing Solitaire is Phil’s first solo album in five years. The last being These Revelation Games in 2020, which was a varied bunch where Phil experimented extensively. Perhaps lockdown inspired artists to scrutinise and pilot new ideas, though through his part in the Americana harmony trio The Lost Trades, fronting the harder rocking The Slight Band, and BCC project, where Phil dives into synth-pop, he’s never been one to shy away from testing new waters. But the principle beauty of Phil’s work lies in the simplicity of his idiosyncratic and solitary acoustic outpourings, a clear and clean line of self-reflection, drenched in honesty and poignancy, and that’s precisely what you’re getting with Playing Solitaire.

Apologise for the delay in announcing this; I had to take one more listen this morning, before deciding if I should call this his best work to date, as he’s a prolific artist with an outstanding discography already. But I think I can safely say, because of the wonderful way this flows, coalescing in mood and style, I think I can safely suggest that it is.

If an all-out anarchistic thrash of rock n roll is what you require, this isn’t for you. For everyone else Playing Solitaire is beautifully crafted and passive, gorgeously taut and accomplished. There’s no whimsical introduction. “Look out world, I’m here to stay,” Phil confidently announces without warning; good! Because Phil knows precisely how to construct a song, and it’s this dedication to composition where he shines best. The opening song, Still Holding My Breath is quintessential Phil Cooper. It’s the acme of his observational writing, a homage to the notion hard work pays off, a characteristic we know Phil well for.

Moving to the next tune, romantic dejection is his soft play centre topic, and oh, how you wrote that note, disregarding how it might be interpreted by the receiver; perhaps we’ve all been there. If it’s a personal reflection, you identify, and the magic lies at the feet of this contemplation, the very magic of Phil’s words, song and ability to combine them, hard at work. And this is an observation we could make to summarise the whole album.

That Easy Road, is remarkable heart on a sleeve content again, it drifts with a stormy sea metaphor to convince himself he’s loved. Another peace of mind ballad follows, then Bijou comments on struggling grassroots music venues, and even if I’m not a musician, it’s exceptionally touching and poignant. The passion Phil delivers this with and the construction of the riff, it’s my personal favourite on the album, maybe replacing Road Songs, my past fav Phil Cooper tune. 

Halfway mark of this ten strong album, and we’re in another foreboding place with Beauty in the Cracks, a frustration at progression, perhaps. Uptempo, and we’re on a lighter note next, followed by a live favourite, They Will Call Us Angels. Eric Bogle fashioned or Guthrie, even, if we suggest an Americana route, but we’ve definitely arrived folk inspired by his work with The Lost Trades. Phil glows through a moving account of a frontline medic, and it’s something kinda wonderful.

Maybe Phil lessened on the deeper narrative in the middle of this album and left three moreish golden nuggets to finish on. Directionless is as it says on the tin, it drifts, and rises halfway through. And we finalise akin to where we began, a little self-help guide type lyrics, but hey, Phil is always on-point. It is an almost one-man choral twinkle, defining Phil as a perfectionist.  

If you worked with Phil in an office, he might be the friendly confidant you relay you’ve prepped nothing for this meeting, and he’ll assure you he’s done equally poorly, and then, at the meeting he’d turn up with a full presentation! Not a show-off by any means, just a dedicated precisian, motivated to the hilt, but seemingly oblivious of the haphazardness of the more spontaneous type, and that’s a rare trait in a musician, making for something individual, solitary, like the one who plays solitaire when they could engage in a two-player game, usually with our Jamie!

This album gets top marks as it reflects his personality sublimely, even by title, and you take a little bit of Phil Cooper away with you. In other news, The Lost Trades are back in the picture since the departure of Tamsin Quin. Jess Vincent takes her place as the third Lost Trader, their touring dates are announced, and we look forward to seeing them with the new addition. For now, Playing Solitaire is out, and you can find it HERE.

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