The annals of music history are littered with bands who took too bloody long
to record their second albums (The Stone Roses, Elastica and, erm, the Stereo
MCs spring immediately to mind) but The Chemistry Experiment have gone one better.
Six years since their first single and five since I saw them impress at an all-dayer
in Sheffield, the lazy buggers have finally come up with this, their debut album.
So has it been worth the wait? Well, it contains the best track of the year so
that's an immediate 'yes'. Back in January, You're The Prettiest Thing towered
head and shoulders over an excellent compilation I reviewed, and five months
down the line it hasn't lost any of its lustre. I used the words 'stunning',
'swooning' and 'glorious' then and they still barely do it justice. Shame the
daft sods haven't worked out how to play it live yet.
I also used the words ‘Lloyd Cole' and there's no getting away from the similarities
inherent in singer Steven J Kirk's rich sonorous voice. Throw in a bit of The
The's Matt Johnson and a good helping of Jarvis Cocker and you're somewhere close
to Kirk's deep timbre.
There are a couple of pieces of Pulp fiction here; We Were Never Wrong has drums
that quicken in a heartbeat and a romantically anguished cry of “I want you back,
I want you now” whilst Thoughts On Gravity sees them playing Something Changed
at 33rpm in error, right up to the brilliant moment where Kirk stops, lights
a cigarette, inhales slowly and then presses the keyboard button marked ‘big
fuck-off cinematic strings'.
The rest of the album is played decidedly low and slow. Smooth, sensual opener
Starlite Ballroom glides along on a wave of restrained trumpet whilst Good Morning
gently winds its way through the back catalogue of fellow Nottingham natives
Tindersticks. The tone and mood changes only slightly with the squelchy What
Are We Good For, which ends up bizarrely resembling Prince's When Doves Cry in
places.
Whilst it may not live up to the heights of You're The Prettiest Thing, the rest
of ‘The Melancholy Death Of…' has much to savour. Christ knows how long it'll
take for them to follow it up, mind.
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