James Jonathan Clancy: Sprecato

James Jonathan Clancy is the quintessential lifer. Founder of Italian / London label, Maple Death Records (Jermone, Ancient Plastix et al), Clancy has spent the last decade cultivating off-kilter landscapes for outliers to seek refuge. Namely under the monikers of His Clancyness and Brutal Birthday, however the songwriter not only makes a barnstorming return with his first solo release in seven years, it marks the first under his own name.

Sprecato is cosmic folk through a shattered lens where broken dreams that feature David Bowie, Scott Walker and an all-star cast of modern-day underdogs are the chief protagonists.

Joined by fellow voices from the underground in co-producer, Stefano Pilia (and guitar / modular/ synths and bass), Dominique Vaccaro (guitars), Andrea De Franco (synths) and Deliluh’s Kyle Knapp (sax), Sprecato also features appearances from Andrea Belfi (drums), PJ Harvey collaborator Enrico Gabrielli (flutes), and Francesca Bono (piano).  

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Written and recorded between London and Bologna, Sprecato offers hints of that eerie, pitch-black dread Ellis Swan masterfully conceived with his 2022 LP, 3am. There are also echoes of the downer rock which has formed the fabric of Australia’s DIY community over the last 15 years, and while there are some acts that lack the required authenticity to really cut through, the same can’t be levelled at Clancy. Not only does he break through the fourth wall on Sprecato. He shatters it completely.

Opening track, Castle Night, sees Clancy slowly opening the curtains to usher in his audience. A soft, slightly skewed folk lament (“Castle night / Mad tender / To be heard / To be held / To not conquer / To not vanish”), it has you shaking your head at just how good it is. Not only that, but there is a fear that Clancy peaks too early.

Those fears quickly subside, for the best is still to come. Starting with the subtle embellishment of strings and brass on Want You. Clancy’s bandmates don’t overshadow his burgeoning power and, in fact, only add to it. In the art of minimalism and extracting maximum force, there are few examples that spring to mind that are stronger than this.

These remnants bleed into songs, Precipice, and the penultimate cut, Out and Alive. Synth-laden bone-raw blues inspired by early Scott Walker, here Clancy’s songcraft excavates to the kind of depths he hasn’t reached before.

Then there’s the Byrdsian prarie hum of Black & White. A shining example of the best things deriving from simplicity. A contrast to A Worship Deal, which feeds in the Maple Death catalogue of obscure aesthetics. In this case, a jazz-infused nihilistic sing-speak affair that follows a similar path later with the sci-fi post-punk vestiges of To Be Me.

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Clancy gets back to basics on the Had It All. A gorgeous, skeletal blues number with woodwind instrumentation providing the necessary embellishments, with a droning hook that sinks deep into the mind.

Finishing with Immense Immense Wild, a warped piano-led number which Clancy delivers in both English and Italian, it underlines his curiosity and eagerness to pull away from conventional songwriting at any given opportunity. Essentially, this is where the raw beauty of Sprecato lies. An album which sees him taking the ideas of folk into corners where few others have explored.

Sprecato is exactly the kind of loner record that underpins the foundations of outlier music and why it’s so evocative and, furthermore, why it’s so often the best. Alongside Swan and more recently Michael Plater, Clancy joins this merry band of miscreants, extracting beauty from the darkest places imaginable.

Sprecato is out now via Maple Death Records. Purchase from Bandcamp.