Andre Cleghorn - One Hand and My Imagination

Andre Cleghorn

One Hand and My Imagination
self-released; 2022

By Dino DiMuro​

Brooklyn, NY’s Andre Cleghorn has just released an album that he hopes will “take his listeners on a ride through real emotions, full of groove and timeless soul.” The album is audaciously titled One Hand and My Imagination. Though my own imagination figured he meant writing lyrics or music, there IS a box of spent tissues on the cover. However, the songs inside are anything but wanky!

Cleghorn is a multi-instrumentalist who’s had a successful career as a bassist, having toured or recorded with artists such as Raphael Saadiq, Common, Estelle, Asher Roth, Rick Ross and Ne-Yo. He’s currently the musical director for Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Mykal Kikgore. With this new album, Cleghorn steps to the forefront as a writer, singer and producer. Among his influences are Prince, Sa-Ra, J Dilla, Andre 3000 and Van Hunt. Cleghorn describes the album itself as “the love child of Sly Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On, D'Angelo's Voodoo, Prince's Dirty Mind and Frank Ocean's Channel Orange.” He further states that this project is “very personal and sometimes auto-biographical. It’s a confrontation between my reputation and my character.”

Though Cleghorn notes that he “wrote every word and produced every song,” he also got some of the best musicians he knew to help with the project. All pre-production was performed on Logic X. Live drums, Hammond organ, electric piano and Moog synth recording took place at ALjo Studios in Queens, NY with vocals cut at Pirate Studios as well as various hotel rooms and bedrooms. Even the famous Tascam Porta Studio 4-track cassette recorder makes an appearance.

“Pagliacci” is a short and tricky opener. There’s a scratchy record, classical picking and a voice over: “Man goes to the doctor, says he’s depressed, says his life seems harsh and cruel…and what lies ahead seems vague and uncertain.” The doctor suggests the man go to see Pagliacci, followed by a twist worthy of M. Night Shyamalan. “Social Distancing” is the first song proper, and is a soul-hiphop hybrid. Sick beats, harp samples, jazzy piano and killer male and female vocals decorate the tune. There’s also another spoken word section anchored by Cleghorn’s tasty bass. Overall it feels like a lounge band in purgatory!

“C’est La Vie” features funky wah wah bass, along with Sly Stone-style vocals (at his wildest). The track has an audacious arrangement with spooky keyboards, like the Haunted Mansion on Ecstasy. Lyrically it’s like a laundry list of the pitfalls of a sexual relationship. “Interlude” has chorus keyboards framing a female spoken word “found sound” narration, as a woman describes “Andre’s love.” The music has a warbly cassette quality that plays nicely behind the voice. Just 1:33 but very cool.

“Neverland” sports a soulful spoken vocal with harmonic bass strumming and fuzzy, snaky guitar runs. Great couplets: ”I was up so high / the view from there was grand / so much so that I may never, I may never land / Not what you had planned / I hope that you understand / that my heart belongs to Neverland.” Overall this track feels the most ambitious and complete thus far. “Baby” has a Devo Moog beat for an ’80s romp with lovely harmony vocals: a taste of Stevie Wonder’s more experimental side. Love the scary middle section where the music goes off into a Disney miasma with a scared woman whimpering in the background. Weird but wonderful.

“Do Right” is a super funky Ohio Players-style tune (thanks mostly to the horns) with Cleghorn taking a page from Prince for the vocals. I was amused to discover that “The Grease” actually references John Travolta and the Grease movie. It’s another hard-funky tune with insistent 7th chords, a jumpy beat and Wonder-ish electric keys. “Icarus” is a miniature showcase for Grandma’s bass and vocals, which carry distant echoes of Al Green. “Go Your Way” sums up all the strengths of the previous tracks and adds a couple movie samples for good measures. It’s a fitting farewell to a satisfying journey.

​This music is not my usual jam, but I was totally engaged throughout and would love to see what else Gleghorn has up his sleeve.

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