One Half Of Bent - Magpies (2023)

Simon Mills is One half of Bent. Or should that be that One half of Bent is Simon Mills. Either way, Mills and (‘the other half of Bent’) Neil ‘Nail’ Tolliday, collectively as Bent, first sneaked onto stereos in 1999 with the infectious shuffle of ‘I love my man’.
Quickly garnering a reputation for being thrift store record sampling alchemists, turning musty grooves into redefined downtempo gold.

Bent produced over five albums from 2000 to 2007, shifting and tweaked their subtleties before temporarily bowing out with the sonic statement ‘Intercept!’ before returning in the pandemic panicked 2020 with the much-needed dose of calmed class ‘Up in the air’.

We are re-realising Simons back catalogue and we asked him to give some of the back story to each release.

“Magpies was my second album as Napoleon, written between 2011 and 2013. I had at this point been living in the sticks, in the middle of Co. Donegal, Ireland for 3 years, and my surroundings were breathtaking, beautiful, and very spacious.

I wanted to make something more emotional, wistful, charming, cosy album, with folk-like influences, as this reflected the surroundings I was living in, and how I was feeling. I often live inside my head, and enjoy being in a dream world, and Co. Donegal certainly facilitates that way of existing. For me it was even more of a return to the nostalgic sounding side of my work, and I felt that this was a more cohesive album in terms of its consistency of mood.

Suzan Hill was back on board to design the sleeve after I briefed her, wanting artwork that reflected the sound of the album, perhaps a landscape seen through the eyes of a child. I was delighted with the artwork, especially as Sue had incorporated “Cuddlebot” (A track title from the album) into the storybook-esque artwork.”