Alright. It’s Mark E. Smith’s new collaborative adventure. Could go either way. I saw the Fall a few years ago at the Point – the microphone failed every few songs, Smith smiled scarily and ended the gig throwing it into the crowd, where someone grabbed it and started rapping in Welsh. The next time I saw him, it was at the Hay Festival, being interviewed by a posh chap to promote his autobiography. Uncomfortable might be the word there. Me and my girlfriend watched later as Smith got thrown out of a film screening for being drunk. Did I say this one could go either way?

Mark E Smith, for over thirty years the leader and front man for The Fall, is to release a new album with guitarist and former Fall manager Ed Blaney, entitled ‘Smith and Blaney’. This collaborative venture marks a departure from the recent Fall release ‘Imperial Wax Solvent’, with more reflective, acoustic textures and a broad palette of musical backdrops on display. Smith’s sardonic humour and lyrical invention is much in evidence, with tracks such as ‘Mettle Claw’, in which Smith addresses the state of the nation, no less, and the mordant ‘The Train pt 1′ which features the duo’s ruminations on riches and fame. ‘No Retreat’ has more of the remorseless swagger of prime Fall, whilst ‘When We Were Young’ is an acoustic, ruminative, melancholically affecting track. The album features covers of the Nervous Norvus classic, ‘Transfusion’, and the Velvet Underground’s ‘Real Good Time Together’. ‘Transfusion’ is transposed from its rock and roll novelty status with sheets of guitar feedback and a driving electronic throb, with Smith reciting the immortal couplets with sardonic glee – “pop the crimson in me Jim-son”, indeed. Already a favourite of Henry Rollins, who has featured it on his US radio show, ‘Transfusion’ is also available as a limited edition single. As is ‘Real Good Time Together’, a straight ahead guitar-led blast through one of Lou Reed’s most direct numbers. Throughout, the album is permeated with ‘found’ sounds – rainfall, foreign radio announcements, studio chat, bird song. As ever, there is little in the way of compromise or nods to commercial constraints.