Review: Don Niño - In The Backyard Of Your Mind

Don Niño -In The Backyard Of Your Mind (Infiné)“In The Backyard Of Your Mind”, the latest album fromDon Niño (a.k.a Nicolas Laureau) is largely self-composed, with occasionalsupport mustered from brother, F. Lor (Yann Tierson, Dirty Three), Mitch Pires(NLF3), Lori Chun Berg (Bergs Sand Nipple, Herman Düne) and Luke Sutherland(Long Finn Killie, Mogwai). It’s the culmination of two years spent contemplatingmusical fragments and curious sounds, and the idiosyncratic outcome is assunshiny as it is dense. His introspective lyrics are thoughtful and teem withpersonal analysis whilst musically he draws on folk, jazz, pop, world music andelectronica.
The album is dissected midway through by theinstrumental “Freebird”, which reeks of carnival spirit. The first half, withthe exception of the downer folk of “Myself By Heart”, bubbles along with easybeats, like those on “Everything Collapsed All Right”, which has shades ofAlfie’s upbeat jazz-folk-pop, while the second half is haggard and gothic, and containsthe narcotic bossa nova of “Mellow To Blossom”.www.infine-music.comWillsk