It’s hard to find superlatives to describe the music of Calamateur.
Not because they’re hard to come by, they’ve simply been used up in previous reviews!
This, the first full-length album from Andrew Howie, is simply another triumph. With Calamateur less of an Oldsolar side project now, the stripped-down sounds are still as thrilling as ever.
The album actually starts with a full band – ‘Half Truth’ creates a massive sound driven by pulsating New Order-style bass and an almost singalong chorus. There’s a cover of the Blue Nile’s ‘Automobile Noise’ here too, with an overloaded beatbox driving what’s almost a one-man dance remix.
The Blue Nile comparison was one I’d never made before but whether it’s the voice, or the at times sparse production I can’t be sure, but at times The Old Fox seems like it might contain some long forgotten/destroyed demos from the legendary Glasgow trio.
There’s a couple of songs from their previous album – the title track from ‘Son of Everyone’ is given more bells and whistles in the new production but ‘Here Beside’ retains the starkness of the original.
The jarring percussion on ‘Your Only Friend’ slowly drags an enthralling listen to a close. I can only echo the words of Jim Bowen : “Super smashing great”.
(This review originally appeared in a print edition of is this music? in 2004. 15 years on, the album has been remastered, for reasons explained on http://andrew-howie.com/the-old-fox-of-45-remastered/. For the record, it sounds brighter and better now, particularly through the computer speakers that are now a common source for our listening.)