Long-serving Fanclub, er, fans (and there are plenty of them) know that there’s an element of ‘formula’ to the band.
Said fans also are loyal to the point of becoming really really irked at bad reviews of their favourites, so let me say that I don’t mean that in a bad way.
TFC are however a democracy, with its three core members dividing songwriting duties pretty much equally, and leaving the vocal styles, as well as the slight nuances of each of the trio to give the album its light and shade.
Shadows, appropriately, is no different, and long-term devotees will be pleased to hear that each of the three writing members (along with Francis Macdonald and David McGowan) is back to vintage form.
The 12 songs on Shadows are divvied up equally between Gerard Love, Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley, and (presumably after lots have been drawn) opener track, Love’s ‘Sometimes I Don’t Need To Believe In Anything’ harks way back to classic Fanclub – a subdued enough start comes to life as the wall of synths and strings almost makes for a Bandwagoneqsue updated for the Noughties.
Next it’s Blake’s turn, the classic Grand Prix-esque stylings of single ‘Baby Lee’. And swiftly followed by McGinley’s ‘The Fall’ – the lazy, appropriately autumnal tones showing the band’s 60s influences more than ever before.
And the pattern continues to an extent with some more top notch songwriting. Included is the
Euros Childs-featuring ‘Dark Clouds’, a little Gorkys-ish with eccentric cor anglais sounds.
‘Into The City’ is another high point, all swelling orchestrated synths and trademark harmonies. And there’s ‘Shock and Awe -an unusual tune which somehow recalls Elvis Costello. Meanwhile, ‘When I Still Have Thee’ rips along and breaks up the pace a little, which, with the band’s strummy, summery melodies, usually doesn’t vary too much.
However, it’s these last couple that in a way typify the band – always different, yet, reassuringly, always the same.
