22 year-old Mute signing Polly Scattergood is a stylistically narrow yet oddly intriguing songwriter whose work is hard to define. Her piano-driven songs may wallow in Tori Amos-style theatrics one minute, only to wryly undercut all the gloom the next. Her lyrics are imagistic and sly, painting a portrait of harried city life while emphasizing the dark loneliness at its core.

The very British playfulness and humor of this track harkens back to one of my favorite Mute tracks of the near-distant past, from Derek Jarman’s Last of England. Produced by Polly’s confrere Simon Fisher-Turner, this fantastic collaboration between Mayo Thompson and painter Albert Oehlen (both of Red Krayola) sampled Tilda Swinton’s dialogue from the movie to marvelous effect. Hard to find on CD, but well worth tracking down on ebay.

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Polly Scattergood, “Nitrogen Pink”

Mayo Thompson & Albert Oehlen (with Tilda Swinton), “Disco Death” [from The Last of England soundtrack]

STILL FROM DEREK JARMAN’S THE LAST OF ENGLAND [1987]