Between 2011 and 2018, songwriter/vocalist
Ellis Jones used the name
Trust Fund for his band that prolifically made upbeat, lo-fi indie pop in the vein of
Los Campesinos!,
Radiator Hospital, or the
Sarah Records camp.
Trust Fund made several EPs and four albums in this style before breaking up around the time of their 2018 record
Bringing the Backline.
Jones re-emerged as
Trust Fund once more in 2022, but this time the sound was wildly different.
Has It Been a While? is the first evidence of
Trust Fund's second act, and fans of their peppy, self-effacing indie pop might be surprised to hear a new album's worth of gentle, drumless, autumnal chamber folk. It's a bold choice to reactivate the
Trust Fund name and present music that sounds worlds apart from what the band is known for, but
Jones pulls it off without blinking, offering up this set of gorgeous chamber pop tunes to be taken on their own merits. The first and most obvious reference point for
Has It Been a While? are the earliest
Nick Drake albums, as
Jones' fingerpicked acoustic guitars and glimmering string instrumentations sound like meticulous studies of those albums more than simple points of inspiration. In particular, the orchestral pop of "The Hinterland" or "The Mirror" (a duet with
Radiant Heart's
Celia MacDougall) feel like knowing hat-tips to the melancholic atmospheres of
Five Leaves Left or
Bryter Layter. A notable part of this sharp left turn is how
Jones' vocals, once ragged and exclamatory on earlier
Trust Fund material, are now hushed and quietly controlled with the same subtle power
Drake was so good at. It's not just a
Nick Drake tribute, however, as songs like "Curtis" recall the naïve charm of
Tigermilk-era
Belle & Sebastian, "In the Air" has the misty beauty of
Colin Blunstone's post-
Zombies quasi-bossa nova style, and especially folksy tunes bring in some of the rustic charm of
Karen Dalton or
Jackson C. Frank. By the time the album gets to its penultimate title track, all of these gentle influences blur together into a record that's graceful and reserved, a little bit lonely, but all the better for it. ~ Fred Thomas
.
![Let It Bleed [50th Anniversary Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0018771858416_p0_v3_s90x140.jpg "Let It Bleed [50th Anniversary Edition]")
![Sings The Songs That Made Him Famous [Remastered 2023] [Tangerine LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0015047808366_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Sings The Songs That Made Him Famous [Remastered 2023] [Tangerine LP]")
![The Original Sun Sound Of Johnny Cash [Translucent Violet LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0015047809868_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "The Original Sun Sound Of Johnny Cash [Translucent Violet LP]")
![Artistic Vice [Collector's Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0013189292319_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Artistic Vice [Collector's Edition]")
![Scott Pilgrim vs. The World [Score] [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0018771876519_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World [Score] [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]")
![Pulp Fiction [Music from the Motion Picture]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0008811110314_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Pulp Fiction [Music from the Motion Picture]")
![Magma [LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0016861747916_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Magma [LP]")
![The Naughtiest [Red Vinyl]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0016998557112_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "The Naughtiest [Red Vinyl]")
![Through the Past Darkly: Big Hits, Vol. 2 [US Version]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0018771213512_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Through the Past Darkly: Big Hits, Vol. 2 [US Version]")
