The Animal

the beautiful debut album from richard walters was described by the guardian as the most haunting balladry you'll hear outside of jeff buckley or antony and the johnstons. 'the animal' has been co-produced by david kosten (bat for lashes) and ant whiting (paloma faith, zero 7, mia). written over a three year period of ecstatic highs and crushing lows for richard walters. at the end of this period, he was galvanised to record the album only after he had fallen in love with an american girl and moved with her to paris from his home town of oxford. his gentle falsetto, free from theatrics and histrionics, means that the subjects of his songs come as a surprise. singing about having a seizure, or the anxiety you feel at the start of an affair, or about domestic abuse from the point of view of the abuser, walters resolutely refuses to 'rock out': the mood is of quiet despair and unfulfilled desire, of anxiety and dismay, of melancholy and longing.