Charlie Francis - Producer, Mixer, Engineer, Musician
Produced, engineered, mixed, played bass and keyboards, programming.
Toshack Highway was Adam Franklin’s first post-Swervedriver album.
Splendid Ezine said:
On his first solo release, Swervedriver’s Adam Franklin has put together a majestic neo-rock album. Recalling the shimmering magnificence of Radiohead’s masterpiece O.K. Computer, this is an album that’s simultaneously global and personal. Much of Toshack Highway probes trance music, exploring both ambient techno (“Just Landed”) and traditional Eastern music (“Man in the Middle East”). As intimated by ship on the album’s cover, the music has an almost aquatic feel, with gently rolling rhythms and broad, sea-foam colored sounds. Although Toshack Highway definitely toys with the pop song by using German lyrics (“Harlem”) and backwards guitars (“Valentine Number One”), it remains consistent and, unlike other “experimental” works, is not only listenable but thoroughly engaging. Despite the excellent instrumentals (such as the astounding Pink Floyd-edged “Theme”), the lyrically-driven songs are the album’s true heart. In particular, the dreamy “Wurlitzer Waltzer” pirouettes on a memory-laden organ and embraces the listener with a full-figured sound. Packed with ambiguous religious and futuristic references, the CD is an intellectual enigma which reveals new treasures with repeated listening. By offering a disc which should appeal to both ambient techno and guitar rock fans, Toshack Highway has made a truly remarkable debut.