The first time I listened to In the Yard, the new drums-and-voice record from Neal Morgan, I hated it with every ounce of my being. If I’d had to write a review right there and then it would’ve been not too dissimilar to the dismantling of Oneida’s Absolute II by one of The Line of Best Fit’s writers last year (a record I love by a band I love, by the way). Morgan’s second solo album sounded like a cacophonous collection of drum breaks and sampled voices with no discernible melodies, structure or intrigue, and I was a bit angry. It wasn’t even admirable on a purely artistic level. However, I gave In the Yard a few more listens and while it’s still extremely far from an enjoyable record a few interesting and engaging moments do reveal themselves, edging you slightly closer towards understanding and connecting with what Morgan was attempting to create. The press release states that the record contains, and I quote “tightly arranged polyrhythmic cyclical marches”, and considers swimming on tour, reaching out to loved ones and paying homage to the painter Philip Guston (the album cover is one of his paintings). Sure it does.

Neal Morgan is perhaps best known for being Bill Callahan’s drummer and the man responsible for the drums and arrangements on Joanna Newsom’s epic Have One on Me album. He also undertook the unenviable task (with Ryan Francesconi) of abridging those songs to be played live, and having seen Newsom and the Ys Street Band he did so with great success. However, Morgan’s own work – despite having a voice quite similar to Callahan’s – forges an idiosyncratic path very much set apart from those doyennes of folk, thanks to his unusual approach to making music.

What’s most surprising is that, for the most part, the drums prove ultimately to be something of a distraction. Opening track ‘On Tour’ consists of irregular drum patterns and some frankly appalling spoken word free verse: “North Carolina. I eavesdrop on teens. Splashing and loving each other, in their young bodies. One of the younger ones, a girl, climbs the bank, takes the rope and swings out over the water”. Now, imagine that with a boom box at your ear on full volume, playing the sound of a child hitting a drum: you’re lucky this review is being written at all after that start. ‘Fathers Day’ is better given there’s an actual rhythm to the percussion and Morgan sings rather than intoning the lyrics; this track was the one chosen to promote the record, and as such is the best example of its combination of drum and voice. As it builds, looped oohs-and-aahs are added, along with a busy tambourine and cowbell, creating layers of sound that actually work really well together. ‘Thinking Big’ has a marvellous groove and clap track, giving it an Andrew Bird swing, but these two tracks are the exceptions to the rule.

Compare ‘Fathers Day’ to, for example, title track ‘In the Yard’ and the difference is clear. Sure, it sounds as if Morgan is recreating a memory of childhood, a moment that was evocative of more innocent times, but the lyrics read as bad poetry, taking attention away from the angelic looped harmonies, and the drums clatter and thud like there’s someone trapped in a loft. ‘May 21, 2009’ is similar, everything combining to noisy frustration, and ‘I Dreamed’ and ‘The Evidence’ are unlistenable.

Moments that do work are the all-too-brief thunderous hip-hop breaks of ‘I Stand On A Roof’ and the innocence of ‘On A Cut Hill’ which strips away any percussion and comes across like a male version of Julianna Barwick’s sacred secular music. It’s a truly lovely moment, standing out against most of the rest of the album.

While there’s little doubt that Neal Morgan is a talented composer and arranger and an outstanding drummer, I really question the need for a record like In the Yard. I’m sure he doesn’t care about record sales, and nor should hem quite frankly, but with such ability at his disposal and a fine voice it’d be a shame for him to continue to make what could be seen as unapproachable music. There’s rarely an opportunity to connect with In the Yard, and whilst you can admire the construction of the album, it’s not one I’m likely to return to in the near future.