We paid our bills, and I picked up my groceries, and then the three of us trailed down Wardour Street. Jay in the lead. The lunch hour in Central London - the traffic was thick and most of the pedestrians the same. We walked past grim-faced soldiers in photo shop windows. Stainless steel orange squeezers and moron manipulated pin-tables metronoming away the sunny afternoon in long thin slices of boredom.
There is a Mitchell and Webb sketch where David Mitchell plays a film director who is perhaps too obsessed with capturing realism in his work. In the middle of known setups, the regularity of life prevails. At a Thirties ornate dining room table, cabinet ministers plead with the Prime Minister at what is clearly the nation's eleventh hour. The suspense comes from his response being delayed by fighting off a sneeze. That is a reductive and comedic illustration of how much the Cold War spy writing of the late Len Deighton differed from Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Deighton steadfastly refuses to be lavish and instead points at the clock-ticking workmanship of the entire process. His characters barely have names, and their backstories are practically eliminated in a matter of hours (1966's "Billion Dollar Brain") or the span of just four days (1962's "The IPCRESS File" which is quoted above.)
Bond has a definitive structure and even through all of its iterations of hard-edged yet vulnerable (Sean Connery,) gadget-friendly and jovial (Roger Moore,) or continuing to cope with reality (the remainder,) this was a surface-level glimpse where the gears of plot could be felt shifting. Deighton saw this as an opportunity. For example, we hear messages transmitted as to where the villain could be headed next - and we are there. Deighton thought there was far more intrigue to not only the trip, but not knowing if or even why the nemesis would be there in the first place.
While it is not exactly a riveting journey, the details and how Deighton chooses to assemble them tell you far more about the general character of the low-level officers who silently wander through traffic with the rest of us. In "The IPCRESS File," we follow the slight ascent of our anonymous protagonist. A call to the Defence Department leads to a transfer to WOOC(P) which through its labyrinthe organization of names and non-names is connected directly to the Cabinet. In contrast with 1966's "Billion Dollar Brain," "IPCRESS" refuses to become exciting until, like our protagonist, you realize that you are in the middle of it.
Scientists are disappearing. Eight in six-and-a-half weeks. Dueling departments are jockeying for position/dealing with the mistakes of the other. A single lead produces an opportunity, Box Four a/k/a Jay could be tracked down and paid off for the possible return of one. Then, it is off to a gentleman's club in Soho where time is told in the differences between a series of dancers and a cigarette girl offers a warning ("Go home. There's nothing to be gained here.") Leighton takes you the long way around where the environment speaks volumes about its choice as a means of distraction. Over hours on a Tuesday afternoon, we are still not worn down by as Leighton poetically puts it "little yellow bulbs winked lecherously in the dusty light." In fact, after one adjusts their reading perspective from crew-cut staccato crime novels to a longer anti-dazzle stream of details, Leighton is to be admired for building his character through his reactions to the environment and ability to find something other than himself.
Fast forward to a familiar spy novel trope, the dreaded plane ride. We're booked first class BOAC from London to Beirut. The airport is, of course, a place of madness. The car ride over is silent, ending in the driver uttering a single sentence as to the next destination on the way out. The typewritten sheet of paper in locker 025 is even more cryptic as it ends with "Destroy by burning immediately." Then in the chaotic bouncing around of passengers to their flights, our protagonist finds himself face-to-face with a known enemy. "I beamed at him - I knew this would irritate him the most." It is as if Deighton wants us to know that his hero is a man of the system who knows when to resist the path of the system.
So, it is into the compressed air and light blue upholstery of the jet we go. Wouldn't you know it, we are not seated next to the lonely inviting young woman. No. We are placed next to a strange giant of a hat-wearing man with "boxes, bags, and a packet of sandwiches." Of course, this man will not stop talking, toasting (spilling most of the beverages,) and taking any opportunity to ask questions. Thank goodness when the man who has a story for everything finally has to excuse himself. Might as well at least see who we are dealing with while he is gone. Quickly rifling through passport pictures, blank postcards and "dirty Italian money," there is a photo of this jocular fellow sitting at the bar in a familiar Soho gentleman's club with... the cigarette girl.
It must be known that Deighton was not necessarily trained to be a writer. When he originally wrote "The IPCRESS File" it was to amuse himself. Composed over two separate holidays over two years, it came up in a party conversation with a guest. Before you know it, Deighton was negotiating a deal. Upon its publication, it became a best-seller in the Cold War world. As it scaled the lists, even Ian Fleming lauded its realism. Deighton, the working-class son of a chauffeur and a cook, had worked his way from the Air Force, through art school to becoming a commercial artist. He made his next goal sound so simple.
I was earning enough money to write anything I chose. I chose a spy novel.
The success of his debut unlocked the rest of his career. Deighton could write whatever he wanted: cookbooks, histories, travel and more. 27 books later, Deighton stopped writing in 2012, retired officially in 2016, and passed away this week at 97. Averse to interviews and even talking about himself and his life, Deighton will be remembered as the writer who revived and revitalized writing about espionage.
NEW MUSIC THIS WEEK
YE - BULLY [LP/CD/CS](Gamma/Vydia)
Back into a self-described "full art mode," Kanye returned to the studio. Isolated in Tokyo, "Bully" continues Ye's ongoing trend of "unpacking" his life. Reminiscent of the underrated "808s & Heartbreak," "Bully" challenges language standards ("Last Breath" spins around everything before the first English word is uttered) and borrows from Can ("Losing Your Mind.") Forget expectations, "Bully" is lean and mean where the beat governs everything.
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY - Engines of Demolition [CUSTARD 2LP/CD](MNRK Heavy)
Forged from the cauldron of classic Eighties Metal in the shape of post-2000's Metal, Zakk Wylde's first Black Label Society venture in five years looks back fondly on the man who made him famous - Ozzy Osbourne. This is their longtime low-slung riffage made gritty ("Name in Blood") where the vocals and the guitar solos bring it above ground. While it is hard to imagine a Metal album reaching for poignancy, Wylde and the band go for it especially on the Alice in Chains-esque "Broken and Blind" and the closer, "Ozzy's Song." Like a lot of the Groove Metal-founded lower-string slinging Metal this year, "Demolition" proves the subgenres of the past may hold the keys to its (commercial) future.
ROBYN - Sexistential [WHITE 2LP/CD](Young/XL/Beggars/Redeye)
Like Halley's Comet of Dance Music, Robyn is back and chartbound. Top 10 smashes in the late Nineties were outdistanced by later club smashes (especially the immortal "Dancing On My Own" which will never grow old.) Ruling the dancefloor as a longtime singer typically means a "modernization" of their music to the point their gravitas is what sets them apart from everything else (don't make me name names - still wondering why Jessie Ware is not a hit here.) Robyn's recent music has been quite personal (2018's "Honey") and follows her regeneration following divorce. "Sexexistential" is flashy hooks ("Dopamine") and our heroine is discovering a new side of herself. The 20-year-old "Blow My Mind" is a stellar single that pounds together Funk, Disco, Electroclash, robot vocals, a hidden Bubblegum-ish break under Robyn's charm. "Sexistential" may bill itself as a sensual rediscovery, and while it is, it lives longer because Robyn writes from her life and as extension of her confident leap in "self-existence"
TBONES will host a special LISTENING PARTY for the latest ROBYN album, so come out, wear something nice and be ready for giveaways and more - Friday, March 27th at 7PM.
FLEA - Honora [RED 2LP/CD](Nonesuch)
Bassist/actor/trumpeter Flea has been the foundation of The Red Hot Chili Peppers since their strange inception. If you choose to watch the Netflix documentary, there is a familial glue that holds together Flea, Anthony Kiedis and the late Hillel Slovak. Maybe it is because of his lack of a structured family life or maybe the fact that he was the first to leave the nest when he bailed on Hillel's What Is This to join Fear. Flea seems to be the most grounded and realistic of the bunch. His talk is all simple pleasures and pie in the sky. His body language and reactions signal that he is still coping with loss and containing emotion. "Honora" is intimate and jazzy (his first dream was to be a jazz trumpeter) laced with songs of memory ('Wichita Lineman" and "Maggot Brain") while celebrating where the appreciation of that music has landed him. Flanked by some heavy hitters from the underappreciated L.A. Jazz scene as well as Thom Yorke and Nick Cave, "Honora" is brassy and bold ("A Plea") while summoning his love of melody.
MELANIE MARTINEZ - HADES [BLUE/PURPLE/WILD PLUM LP/CD/CS](Atlantic)
Stepping outside of her trilogy (the self-effacing witchy Pop of "Portals" as a high point,) "HADES" paints the world outside as desperate and awful. In controversial swathes of lyrics, Martinez gazes into the mirror and at what is not there becomes a bit of an obsession. Its habit of stop/start-ing keeps the focus on what is different in her sights over the 42-minute album. It is not that no one is safe here, "HADES" is hyperfocused on thoughts as distractions, sounds sending you into overload, and memories being just enough to hammer her weirdly lo-fi music into a refocusing of society's always wide-open lens.
RAYE - THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE [2LP/CD](Human Re Sources)
Sculpted around the four seasons, British songstress Raye shares her emotional growth with the world. Seventeen songs that showcase her magnificent voice and ability to command a ballad and crush a throwback Soul/Pop single (the still unstoppable "Where Is My Husband?")
CHARLOTTE CORNFIELD - Hurts Like Hell [LP/CD](Merge/Secretly)
Canadian singer/songwriter Cornfield has long been a favorite thanks to her nondescript yet vulnerable style of writing. 2021's "Headlines" and "Drunk For You" carried that John Prine-like familiarity that puts tragedy at a safe enough distance to uncomfortably laugh. 2023's "Gentle Like The Drugs" and "In From The Rain" continued that trend of learning from leaning into lessons of life. So far, "Hurts Like Hell" sees Cornfield growing as a writer and a human. Like Lucinda Williams or Kathleen Edwards, Cornfield seizes the hesitation as a known device to imply a bad decision was made ("Lost Leader,") while her duet with Feist on "Living With It" is her career high point (so far.) When she reaches for the highs on the chorus, you feel with her that this chronicles one that went too far. Then, when she hits the smallest shared moment Cornfield expertly speaks with overconfidence ("I still have your number/I'll never delete it") as it dissolves into a level of doubt that almost prevents the response "Do you still have mine?" from coming out. A true lump-in-the-throat moment and one of the best songs you will hear in 2026.
QUEEN - II [2LP](Hollywood)
VAN HALEN - 5150 [GREEN 2LP/CD](Warner)
In the grand scheme of Classic Rocker catalogs, the "transition" record is often given short shrift. Queen in their quest for identity made the first bold steps away from their Zeppelin-isms on 1974's "Queen II." Given their ideas for multiple overdubs and skyrocketing production, "II" rocks hard enough to make Metal fans happy (it is a favorite of Judas Priest's Rob Halford") and still conjoin Progressive ("Ogre Battle" and "Father to Son") with Art Rock. By embracing the bombast and drama here, Queen would now be able to push it down in their mixture and allow their hooks to sparkle above. Clearly, they saw their future as bright, ending with the anthemic breakthrough "Seven Seas of Rhye."
After the megawatt smash of "1984," Van Halen finally came apart at the seams. The Eddie/Dave monster that had been struggling for control of the band delivered darkness (1981's "Fair Warning,") and commercial pandering (1982's "Diver Down.") Eddie's new home studio (which gives the album its numeric name) granted him the freedom to write anything. While he was at home making tracks on top of tracks, Dave (and producer Ted Templeman) hit a few studios to record some covers. Succumbing to the old "creative differences" beast, Van Halen needed to begin again with a new singer. With Sammy Hagar fronting the band, Van Halen finally had the range to introduce ballads into the mix ("Love Walks In") and most notably use his keyboards/synths overwhelmingly on the compositions. Just like his guitar, Eddie proved to be wildly inventive in creation ("Why Can't This Be Love") and this made stompers like "Best of Both Worlds" stand out a little further than before. With the steady hands of Michael Anthony and brother Alex steering the ship behind him, "5150" established the groove that most Van Halen records would follow from here on out. In hindsight, this acts as both a blessing ("Finish What Ya Started" surprised everyone on the next album "OU812") and curse (1991's "Poundcake" cements the rigidity of their gotta-have-a-hard-rock single.) "1984" was a tough act to follow. Van Halen's second chapter would oddly trade humor and lightness for a "party band" vibe that would date the rest of their output after the true classics of 1978-1984.
Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
