Sun, 29 Jan 2006
Clearlake, Amber
Clearlake, Amber
LP, Domino
This was a bit of a surprise. With the band and album name
as they are, I expected something vaguely new-agey with lots
of softness, warm hugs and the like. In fact there's lots of nice
big fat guitar and some clever arrangements which are quite are
quite hard-hitting musically, and done within the pop genre
rather than trying for punkness.
From the promo - 'Clearlake have been making excellent records since the wonderful
Winterlight single announced their arrival. 2000's debut album Lido was
much-loved, sparked a sell-out UK tour and won plaudits from all sorts
of stellar peers and heroes. Second album, Cedars, in 2003, was the one
that attracted rave notices in the US too and found adoring fans all
across America on a huge two-month visit in 2004. Dashing into the
studio upon their return, Clearlake vowed to deliver a swift follow-up.
Somehow, it became a bit of an odyssey, across eight studios in France
and the UK. It took time, but the results are timeless: the motorik,
mesmeric opener "No Kind Of Life", the bluesy moonburst of "Neon", the
buzzy rush of "Good Clean Fun", the Kinksy oomph of "Finally Free", the
prowling tension of You Can't Have Me, the coruscating title song, the
countrified lament Dreamt That You Died and the awesome guitar power of
"Widescreen".
Produced by Clearlake's Jason Pegg with Steve Osborne (U2, Happy
Mondays, KT Tunstall) and Jim Abbiss (Kasabian, DJ Shadow, David Gray)
and recorded by Phill Brown (Talk Talk, Bob Marley, LedZep, Hendrix,
you name it)'
(Dr Boots)
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