BUSH, THOMAS - Random Constraint Satisfaction Problems

"Edition of 400 copies on rough-sided printed sleeves with printed inner sleeve. With Random Constraint Satisfaction Problems , the ever elusive and shape-shifting Thomas Bush offers up a new album of category scrambling song craft. Since earlier solo efforts like Old And Red (2018), Preludes (2022) and The Next 60 Years (2024), Bush -- currently based in Malmö -- has traced a digressive path that has proven him capable of everything from murky wobbling dirges to uptight head-bopping laments to crystalline synth chords that hang precariously in the air over your new favorite bass line. Like its title, the album's songs/tunes/opportunities for pleasure offer the listener further evidence of a sensibility that is equal parts ambiguity and clarity. In addition to his solo work, Bush has worked with a range of collaborators in one-off configurations and longer term projects like RAP (with Guy Gormley ) and cATHOLIC CHURGH (with Jon Auman ). Critical responses to Bush's output have often focused on his predilection for certain folk-ish impulses and instrumentation, but, judging from releases like 2026's guld , his definition of "folk music" seems to have as much to do with A Guy Called Gerald as it does with Shirley Collins or John Martyn . For all of its diversity, what unites Bush's ever-expanding body of work is its dual commitment to experimentation and a job well done."