Trust Fund – Bringing The Backline

Trust Fund bring it again with their final album…

At times it’s hard to believe it’s been two years since Ellis Jones AKA Trust Fund released his last album — the lyrically-lithe ‘We Have Always Lived in The Harolds’. Now, its follow-up, ‘Bringing The Backline’, is here and the time has clearly been well spent, with Jones delivering another future classic.

‘Blue X’ tells the tale of playing a gig and having to bring the backline. It’s business as usual: spiky riffs and falsetto vocals. The DIY bedsit indie ‘Jonathan’ has the best lyric of the album on it: “I'm a fan of new music / But if you play me any, I just might lose it”.

But Trust Fund aren’t just going through the motions. On ‘Alexandra’, Jones branches out into Human League-sounding electro-pop — staccato drum machines and synths replace the guitars. At first, this change of sound feels jarring and out of place, but as ‘Alexandra’ plays out and ‘Wipe it Down’ begins you miss its icy charm.

‘Bringing The Backline’ has strains of Teenage Fanclub, as Jones tells more refreshing honesty tales of sub-life living backed by chugging riffs and delicate melodies. It is another high-water mark, in a career filled with them, but sadly there is a downside.

‘Bringing The Backline’ is the final Trust Fund album. Since 2013’s ‘Don’t Let Them Begin’, Jones has released four flawless albums, but he’s decided to end the project. This is an even more bitter pill to swallow given how strong and enjoyable ‘Bringing The Backline’ is. The only silver lining is we probably won’t have to wait long to hear Jones’ next project.

8/10

Words: Nick Roseblade

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