Selfless Woebegone Autonomists,
After Into the Woods, I was eager to buy A Brighter Beat by Malcolm Middleton, I knew I would not be disappointed.
Arab Strap were a fantastic band but they did the right thing and disbanded before any decline. They had an image of being miserable and dour, that’s what is to be gained from being accurate and true to life. I never found their records to be depressing, and in their press work, they gave some of the funniest interviews that I’ve ever heard. Adjectives are all subjective.
The Twilight Sad w
ill plug some of the gap that Arab Strap left behind but gladly, we still have new solo work to enjoy. A Brighter Beat has a brighter beat, the lyrics might still be construed as miserable, but only by those who live in a sugar-coated, false world (You are the generation who bought more shoes and you get what you deserve), and I identify with many of the lines because I don’t.
The album begins with the fast-paced and factual We’re all Going to die. It could easily have been We’re all Gonna die - some lazier artists would have. The consideration of mortality is always endearing and refreshing. If Malcolm could take one possession when oblivion comes calling, it’d have to be his duvet; I’d take my radiator – temperature decreases by around 1o degrees C after an increase of 100m in altitude, ergo heaven will be cold.
The backing vocals are very important in this record, as they were in Into the Woods, so credit must also be given to Jenny Reeve and Nicola MacLeod. They’re in nearly every song, sometimes prominently like in Fight Like the Night, or just subtly, like in the title track. The title track and lead single is a cracker, even if it was an instrumental, it could easily be identified as Scottish.
I don’t swear, I can cope with swearing, I don’t have a problem but I won’t publish the title of Track 5 in The Bellyaches. I’d advise Malcolm to bin his cell phone. The moods; reminiscing, desperation, longing, wonder, torment are all reflected brilliantly in the music.
The piano and organ-driven Stay Close Sit Tight is a favourite of mine because of it’s likeness to the frog thing from Rupert and the lyrics, “Don’t call me because I won’t pick up the phone” is what I would say or “Don’t invite me, I’m safer where I am”, I’ll only go on and make some ridiculous blunder.
Although it’s possible to say that some songs sound like other artists, this album will always retain its own identity because of Malcolm Middleton’s distinctive accent and lyrics. Having said that, I’m not sure if Somebody Loves You is a cover of an Elliot Smith song or not. It’s one of a pair of quiet acoustic guitar numbers in the second half of the album that I, at first, did not take to. Although most of the album has sad overtures in the lyrics, the music still leaves the tracks feeling reasonably uplifting but in these two tracks, the music is sparse and the songs then feel a bit too broody. But (and “but” should only be used to begin sentences in exceptional circumstances) this was only a minor and temporary trough in my enjoyment of this record because I now like these tracks and in any case they were followed by a wonderful Mercury Rev-esque composition, Up Late at Night Again, during which I can imagine perfectly Jonathan Donahue singing the lines of the chorus, “Don’t ever want to say goodbye, if I go first and tell you what it’s like”.
The final song in the bog-standard edition of the album, Superhero Songwriter, is another endearing song, modest Malcolm goes on one more self-deprecating trip where he has a pop at all these middle-of-the-road gimps who write benign, soulless lyrics to make themselves radio playlist friendly. This song shows the Cape twerp how to write songs about writing songs and has monumental brass. Indeed, I failed to mention before now that Belle & Sebastian fans can play “Spot Trumpeter Mick” throughout this album; he’s the one with the red-hooped woolly jumper and bobble hat combo and the milk bottle bottom spectacles.
The bonus tracks in the Special Edition are actually better than the two songs that I once thought were iffy, so it’s probably worth spending the extra pound or two. One of the bonus tracks uses the word “smurf” as a verb, there are 71 entries for “smurf” in the Urban Dictionary and some of those on the first page are unpleasant. The second bonus track ties in well with the title track because in it “his fridge is so bare” and in A Brighter Beat he has a “fridge full of beer”, thus it’s quite clear that there are no loose ends after 52 minutes, unless still grumbling about the questionable need for a cardboard sleeve over the CD jewel case – it’s a bit wasteful.
Arab Strap were a fantastic band but they did the right thing and disbanded before any decline. They had an image of being miserable and dour, that’s what is to be gained from being accurate and true to life. I never found their records to be depressing, and in their press work, they gave some of the funniest interviews that I’ve ever heard. Adjectives are all subjective.
The Twilight Sad w
ill plug some of the gap that Arab Strap left behind but gladly, we still have new solo work to enjoy. A Brighter Beat has a brighter beat, the lyrics might still be construed as miserable, but only by those who live in a sugar-coated, false world (You are the generation who bought more shoes and you get what you deserve), and I identify with many of the lines because I don’t.The album begins with the fast-paced and factual We’re all Going to die. It could easily have been We’re all Gonna die - some lazier artists would have. The consideration of mortality is always endearing and refreshing. If Malcolm could take one possession when oblivion comes calling, it’d have to be his duvet; I’d take my radiator – temperature decreases by around 1o degrees C after an increase of 100m in altitude, ergo heaven will be cold.
The backing vocals are very important in this record, as they were in Into the Woods, so credit must also be given to Jenny Reeve and Nicola MacLeod. They’re in nearly every song, sometimes prominently like in Fight Like the Night, or just subtly, like in the title track. The title track and lead single is a cracker, even if it was an instrumental, it could easily be identified as Scottish.
I don’t swear, I can cope with swearing, I don’t have a problem but I won’t publish the title of Track 5 in The Bellyaches. I’d advise Malcolm to bin his cell phone. The moods; reminiscing, desperation, longing, wonder, torment are all reflected brilliantly in the music.
The piano and organ-driven Stay Close Sit Tight is a favourite of mine because of it’s likeness to the frog thing from Rupert and the lyrics, “Don’t call me because I won’t pick up the phone” is what I would say or “Don’t invite me, I’m safer where I am”, I’ll only go on and make some ridiculous blunder.
Although it’s possible to say that some songs sound like other artists, this album will always retain its own identity because of Malcolm Middleton’s distinctive accent and lyrics. Having said that, I’m not sure if Somebody Loves You is a cover of an Elliot Smith song or not. It’s one of a pair of quiet acoustic guitar numbers in the second half of the album that I, at first, did not take to. Although most of the album has sad overtures in the lyrics, the music still leaves the tracks feeling reasonably uplifting but in these two tracks, the music is sparse and the songs then feel a bit too broody. But (and “but” should only be used to begin sentences in exceptional circumstances) this was only a minor and temporary trough in my enjoyment of this record because I now like these tracks and in any case they were followed by a wonderful Mercury Rev-esque composition, Up Late at Night Again, during which I can imagine perfectly Jonathan Donahue singing the lines of the chorus, “Don’t ever want to say goodbye, if I go first and tell you what it’s like”.
The final song in the bog-standard edition of the album, Superhero Songwriter, is another endearing song, modest Malcolm goes on one more self-deprecating trip where he has a pop at all these middle-of-the-road gimps who write benign, soulless lyrics to make themselves radio playlist friendly. This song shows the Cape twerp how to write songs about writing songs and has monumental brass. Indeed, I failed to mention before now that Belle & Sebastian fans can play “Spot Trumpeter Mick” throughout this album; he’s the one with the red-hooped woolly jumper and bobble hat combo and the milk bottle bottom spectacles.
The bonus tracks in the Special Edition are actually better than the two songs that I once thought were iffy, so it’s probably worth spending the extra pound or two. One of the bonus tracks uses the word “smurf” as a verb, there are 71 entries for “smurf” in the Urban Dictionary and some of those on the first page are unpleasant. The second bonus track ties in well with the title track because in it “his fridge is so bare” and in A Brighter Beat he has a “fridge full of beer”, thus it’s quite clear that there are no loose ends after 52 minutes, unless still grumbling about the questionable need for a cardboard sleeve over the CD jewel case – it’s a bit wasteful.
posted by Leif at 9:09 PM
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