There’s something quietly radical about Diagonals: An Anthology (2020–2026). On paper, it’s a compilation — four previously released short collections gathered into a double-length album. In practice, however, Liverpool guitarist and composer Neil Campbell has reshaped these works into something far more cohesive: a fluid, immersive listening experience that feels less like an archive and more like a single, evolving composition.
Remastered and carefully sequenced, Diagonals reveals a unifying artistic vision that may not have been fully apparent when these pieces first appeared separately. Across its span, Campbell’s approach to composition, performance, and production is strikingly consistent — rooted in acoustic guitar but expanded through layering, texture and subtle electronic augmentation. The result is music that feels both intimate and architecturally intricate.
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Geometry in Sound: Diagonals (2026)
The newest material, the ten-part Diagonals suite, acts as the album’s conceptual and emotional anchor. Inspired by visual forms and dedicated to artist Ken Horton, these pieces translate spatial ideas into musical language. Tracks like “Circles” and “Polarities” suggest motion and symmetry, while “Ascent” builds with quiet inevitability.
Campbell’s guitar work here is nothing short of remarkable — not in a showy, virtuosic sense, but in the way multiple interlocking lines create the illusion of an ensemble. The brief title tracks (“Diagonals” and “Diagonals Nr. 2”) function almost like studies — miniature reflections on shape and gesture — while “Upstream (Reprise)” provides one of the suite’s most emotionally resonant moments, expanding a simple motif into something quietly profound.
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Time and Texture: Journey Into Space (2023)
If Diagonals explores space, Journey Into Space explores time. Inspired by the poetry of Seán Street, this suite juxtaposes miniature guitar pieces with fragments of longer, process-based compositions. The effect is one of shifting temporal perspective — moments of stillness set against the suggestion of something vast and ongoing.
Even without the spoken-word context of its live performances, the music retains a poetic sensibility. Campbell’s phrasing feels almost linguistic, as though each motif is part of a larger, unspoken narrative. It’s a subtle but compelling conceptual framework, and one that rewards attentive listening.
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Pastoral Miniatures: The Forest Dwellers (2020)
The earliest material on the album, The Forest Dwellers, offers four concise, melodic vignettes that feel almost pastoral in comparison to the more conceptually driven works elsewhere. There’s a warmth and directness here — less layered, perhaps, but no less expressive.
These pieces also highlight Campbell’s long-standing collaboration with producer Jon Lawton, whose role in shaping the sound of these recordings cannot be overstated. The clarity and balance of the guitar tones allow even the simplest passages to resonate fully.
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Dialogue and Collaboration: Berlin Suite & Other Short Stories (2022)
The album’s most distinct tonal shift comes with Berlin Suite & Other Short Stories, a collaboration with cellist Nicole Collarbone. Here, the guitar steps back at times, allowing the cello to take a leading role. The title track, “Berlin Suite,” is the closest the album comes to an “epic” — a richly textured piece that unfolds with a sense of narrative scope. Elsewhere, “Hoobie Tango” brings a gentle rhythmic lilt, while “Ode to a Penguin” nods playfully to the influence of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. The interplay between guitar and cello throughout is sensitive and deeply musical, reflecting a collaboration built over decades.
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A Singular Voice
Across all four collections, what stands out most is Campbell’s ability to create complexity without clutter. His music draws on elements of contemporary classical, jazz, and progressive rock, but never feels confined by genre. Instead, it exists in a space of its own — defined by clarity of tone, precision of structure, and an understated emotional depth.
Importantly, Diagonals does not demand attention in a conventional sense. It invites it. These are pieces that unfold gradually, revealing their intricacies over repeated listens. What might initially seem delicate or minimal becomes, over time, richly detailed and deeply affecting.
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Conclusion
Diagonals: An Anthology (2020–2026) is more than a retrospective — it’s a recontextualisation. By bringing together these disparate works and shaping them into a unified whole, Neil Campbell has created one of the most quietly ambitious albums of his career. For listeners willing to engage with its subtlety and scope, Diagonals offers a rewarding journey — one that moves between the intimate and the expansive, the immediate and the timeless.
Neil Campbell / Diagonals
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