Exsanguinated Roommate: Lurking

Through the years, rock music has thrown us the kind anomalies that take lifetimes to decipher. Why didn’t The Chameleons ever play Wembley? Why didn’t Polvo break through the fourth wall when so many other bands that artistically couldn’t hold a candle to them did?

There are dozens more of these examples that become even more inexplicable as the years roll on. Where this decade is concerned, Paul Foreman’s creative endeavours are slowly becoming woven into a similar patchwork.

Perhaps known better for his involvement in Soft Speaker and more recently through the excellent voyage that is Salisman, the Chicago native has spearheaded some of the most underrated guitar-based jams over the last decade. Subtle, extensive, and immediate, Salisman in particular possess a crossover ability that spills into a world that goes beyond the underground, simply because they produce something that is at the core of what experimental rock music is.

Foreman kicks off 2024 with another tasty dish, this time under the excellent guise, Exsanguinated Roommate. Not a world away from the Salisman sound world, however with a stripped back approach despite being assisted by fellow Salisman comrades Chris Tate and the band’s new drummer Jon Raedeke, by and large, Exsanguinated Roommate sees the spotlight focusing on Foreman’s songcraft sharper than it ever has before.

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Mixed by Tate and mastered by Carl Saff (Prison, Cheval de Frise et al), Lurking is seamless splendour committed to tape, almost like a Paul Foreman ‘best-of’ without being that.

“In a freefall, I was tied down,” he sings on the opening reverie, Chain and Rope. A saccharine number filled with melodies that are like inhaling fresh air in open space, it’s a song that instantly sees both artist and listener locked in the groove. And while the title may not suggest it, the same rules apply with In the Apiary. Here Foreman’s effortless songcraft is on show for all to hear in what is a strident confidence that has no currency.

With creative license to veer off the track throughout (the electro-tinged Coke Receipt and the bombastic Does the Present Leave Us Nowhere?), all told, this album continues to build on the gorgeous one-two opening combo.

Starting with Dripping Maestro. A blissed-out rendition of alt-rock and psych, this song is like sliding into a hot bath (“Is this world no longer for us?”). While ER / A & E follows a similar sonic lineage, thematically, it hints at the kind of darkness at the door we all fear as we become older.

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Then there’s sharp observations of another album highlight, Prints, which contains the kind of wordplay inspired by drinking alone and trawling through online music and crime forums during the early hours (“Are your prints on file/ Are your bass lines going out of style / Did you pray in the swamp coming down / It’s not great for you”).

Meanwhile, there isn’t one song that better represents Lurking than This Year’s Modus Operandi – defiant pop majesty that echoes the greats, but with added embellishments; namely Foreman’s ability to find the melodic fairy dust in the corners where most others don’t look.

Exsanguinated Roommate and, by extension, the Paul Foreman story could be defined as just that. Someone using the same tools as most other conventional-based craftsman, but forever conjuring up something bravely original.

It’s the reason why his work both now and in the past is a must listen, and during the time of year where most are shackled by the elements, Foreman’s creations are like the low winter sun providing that welcomed warmth. If only for a fleeting moment, however there’s plenty on Lurking that overrides the winter gloom.

Lurking is out now via Cruel Nature Records. Purchase from Bandcamp.