Secret Meeting score: 70
by Joseph Purcell
In 2016, Cullen Omori, founder member of Smith Westerns, released New Misery- an acclaimed yet under appreciated debut of glam-infused pop psychedelia. Since then, numerous personal difficulties have plagued Omori, and on new release The Diet, many of these issues that held him back have been reclaimed to become his inspiration.
On album opener and lead single, Four Years, Omori delights with his subtle jangling guitar and effortless vocal swagger. The track is perfectly pitched gleaming guitar pop, enhanced further by a whimsical melodic warmth that elevates the track to an immediately catchable level, and is an engrossing four minutes of sunshine punch.
All By Yourself begins with a fantastic aching guitar that intertwines perfectly with Omori’s high-pitched tones- as they wrestle and fall with the scaling descents of the underpinning waltzing acoustic. A gentle track of warmth and simplicity, in the style of Liam Gallagher’s finest self-penned moment, Songbird, it highlights Omori’s abilities to strip back some of his psychedelia infused tendencies and create gentle moments of delightful acoustic warmth.
Happiness Reigns is a driving, catchy, harmonious three minutes of fresh indie pop, with Omori’s voice an encapsulating centrepiece on a definite album highlight. The feedback jammed intro of Quiet Girl is a brings another change of tone, before Black Rainbow strips back the searing guitar solos for a terrific vocal-centric performance- and feels like it’s been effortlessly plucked from a street in 1960’s Liverpool.
Millenial Geishas struts and stomps, with the arrogance and swagger of a track that knows it sounds great, as it drips with soaring hazy moments of joy, huge sounding backing vocals and inexplicable lyrics of entering dragons. Closing number and another undoubted highlight – A Real You – is a gorgeous yet modest acoustic-driven slice of pop and brings to mind yet another 60’s artist, Ray Davies.
The Diet is an enjoyable pop record, and like its predecessor is one where Omori’s influences are firmly worn on his sleeve. This can, at some points, overpower, yet real highlights of The Diet come in the moments where Omori reins in his tendencies for incessant guitar solos and gleaming shiny sounding vocals. And when they are replaced by solitary acoustic guitars and his delicately understated delivery, this is where you get a sense you’re seeing the real Cullen Omori- let’s hope there is more of this to come.
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