Malcolm Middleton is best known as the multi-instrumentalist who, as one-half of Arab Strap, created music for Aidan Moffat's tales of woe. The Scottish duo split on good terms in 2006, but both members had already begun solo careers years earlier, Moffat as Lucky Pierre/L. Pierre, and Middleton under his own name. Middleton's two prior solo records didn't deviate much from Arab Strap's sound, and A Brighter Beat doesn't either, but it somewhat lives up to its title, in that it's less harrowing than his work with that band, hewing closer to the bolder sound of 2005's Into the Woods.
As far as singing and lyrics go, Middleton's biggest influence might be his old partner-- he has a similar dry, deadpan delivery that shows off his Scottish accent, and dark nights of the soul are his bread-and-butter subject matter. That's not to put him down, though, because he writes some good songs, and the instrumental backing he gives them is bolder and more out-front that much of what he did for Arab Strap. The presence of Jenny Reeve on backing vocals is one of several elements that brightens the music-- when they sing in unison, she even makes him sound more melodic than he is.
This batch of songs is a bit more focused on simple loneliness rather than the outright dejection he's sometimes slumped into before. There are points at which he actually sounds hopeful, almost sweet. He may be up late thinking about his own mortality on "Up Late at Night Again", but he is genuinely in love with the person he's singing to when he hits the big chorus, telling her, "I'll always want to have you by my side," as Mogwai's Barry Burns floods the song with keyboards. On "Fuck it, I Love You", he admits his feelings in the hope of bringing his lover home, all over a jaunty beat and jangling guitar. Middleton also shows considerable wit in the way he describes his travels around the world, and inserts a surprisingly assertive prog-rock instrumental break in the middle of the song.
A look at the tracklist, with titles like "We're All Going to Die" and "Death Love Depression Love Death", indicates a real downer, but it's not all as dark as that, and I don't think I've ever heard Middleton sound so damn lively, even when he's singing a couplet like, "I'm four cigarettes away from having to leave the house/ I've got to make them last until the sun goes down." Middleton refers to himself as a "budding failure" on closer "Superhero Songwriters" amid a crashing horn and strings fanfare, but even as he sings it, he's proving himself wrong. A Brighter Beat easily stands with anything Arab Strap did and brims with promise for what Middleton can accomplish on his own in the future.
