Back Numbers

Romantic retro/Euro pop, male and female vocals. Gentle & swaying, simple & lovely (and somehow psychedelic in a Spacemen 3 way) with acoustic & synthetic instrumentation. No way mawkish but fuck it is gentle. Includes some well chosen, arcane covers (Lee Hazelwood, Donovan, The Troggs, a UK children's show theme) and a song co-authored with Pete Kember of Spacemen 3. Kember plays on the album, as does Matt Johnson (played with Jeff Buckley). Wareham and Phillips were both in Luna. He'd previously founded and sung in Galaxie 500, the archetypal slowcore band that predated Low. She'd played in Ultrababyfat and before that was the voice of cartoon character Jem (of Jem and the Holograms). The electronics here give a cooler cast, in a sterile sci-fi way, than the duo's previous work. Against the romanticism it's tasty & a bit alien. Play with Angel Corpus Christi, April March, Spacemen 3, Mazzy Star, The Softies, Camera Obscura, Lollipoptrain, Bertrand Burgalat, Serge Gainsbourg, Nancy Sinatra, David Bowie. FCC Clean. Start with 4, 6, 9, 11.

1. Britta sings. Very sleepy vocals, all electronic instrumentation except for processed guitar. Flowing and soporific. Starts with synthetic percussion. Slow fade without beats.
2. Dean sings. Downtempo, grey winter ballad. Classic Wareham minimal poetry. "Those are dragons we used to slay. Those are games we used to play. And those are words you used to say." Starts with synth then slowly strummed guitar. Ends cold on a bass note.
3. Britta sings. Soporific love song. "Wait for me at the bottom of the sea." Starts with very quiet, spacey synth. Slow fade.
==> 4. (Lee Hazelwood cover) Britta sings, loudly. Wow, it's pretty. Gently joyous love song. Starts with repetitive strums and "la la la's." Ends with repeating, ascending figure that fades.
5. (Donovan cover) Dean sings. Music in chorus is almost identical to Gainsbourg's "Je T'aime." Guitar and synths. and strings "All the boys in the neighborhood would love you if they could. But I'm easy." Starts with strong strum and consonant bass. Quick fade.
==> 6. (theme to UK children's show "White Horses") Britta sings. Dreamy, naive fantasy lullaby. Starts cold. Fades.
7. Dean sings. Happy sad lament. "It's never the day. It's always the night... Honey I miss you now." Very sad and beautiful. Starts cold. Fades with some cymbal taps.
8. Both sing. Country pop, reminds me of Nancy Sinatra but with poetic lyrics. "It's all been said and taken back before. Don't forget to slam the door." Starts with strums and bass. Fades on bass note.
==> 9. (co-written with Pete Kember) Both sing. Guitar and strings. Strong melodic theme that sounds super '60s retro. Dreamy chorus. Starts with descending arpeggio. Slows and fades.
10. Both sing. Poignant reminiscence. A lovely tear jerker, complete with swelling orchestra. Starts with bass notes. Slows, suspended strings, then quick fade.
==> 11. (Troggs cover) Dean sings. Very Spacemen 3. Starts with processed tremolo guitar. Fade on tremolo.