After a long gestation period, James Huggins has finally readied his solo LP A Parallax I. A bit of it has been available on his Myspace for a while, but now we’ve got a complete package to look forward to. Here’s a quick preview.

MP3: James Husband – A Grave in the Gravel
If you’d given me this song and anything off the Late BP Helium’s Amok in 2004 and asked if I thought Of Montreal in 2009 would sound like that or any selected song off their last two records, I would obviously have picked either solo project as the more likely to follow Of Montreal’s career path. But strangely Kevin surprised us all and is rocking out in a new vein. But that just means there’s more room on your record collection for James Husband’s new record.

First off: it really doesn’t sound anything like Of Montreal. Jamie and Kevin likely had similar favorite bands back in 2000, but there’s just an epic amount of space you could run with those influences. Hell, Black Sabbath and Os Mutantes both cite the Beatles as highly influential sources and they sound pretty far apart. What I’ve heard of A Parallax I sounds like the first stages of pop music, rock music and kooky production all started to converge well in the mainstream. So for lack of a better idea, I’ll say it sounds like 1970. For the most part it’s dreamy and light, but the chorus has a nice crunch to it that I really enjoy.

And maybe the best part about this whole thing is that it’s happening at the same time that the Of Montreal back catalogue (well, most of it) is being reissued on vinyl. So if you head over to Polyvinyl’s web site, you can get a vinyl copy of A Parallax I and Of Montreal’s Aldils Arboretum, The Early Four Track Recordings, The Bird Who Continues To Eat The Rabbit’s Flower, The Bedside Drama, and Coquelicot… for just $60! Total deal for Of Montreal/wax fans.

James Husband on Myspace