A Short Break

When Robert Wyatt followed up his welcome return of a CD (Dondestan) with this EP "only" two years later, some fans thought a new era of productivity had hit the reclusive singer. (Alas, it took until 1998 for a full-length follow-up to appear.) A Short Break is a musical scrapbook, a glimpse of half-thought ideas and hints of melody — atmospheres, not songs. Armed with a lone piano, a set of cymbals, some rudimentary percussion, an organ, and his plaintive voice, Wyatt's pieces are melancholy, sad, and contemplative. They are also, it must be added, not that interesting, and worth listening to only because the man is capable of so much more (it would not have even been released if it was anybody else). Only "Unmasked" could have made it onto Dondestan, and sounds like an outtake. More fascinating are the childhood photos and short essay by Wyatt that accompany the CD.