Description

Amazon.co.uk On Bring It Back, ex-Suede guitarist and one-time solo artist Bernard Butler has kissed and made up with singer David McAlmont, after no less than seven years of not talking to each other. Butler, it seems, is not an easy person to work with. The results, while not stylistically different from their first outing together (1995’s The Sound of McAlmont & Butler) are surprising in their immediate quality, delivered with the kind of infectious enthusiasm that makes them almost impossible to dislike. Both the brooding but ultimately heavenly “Theme..” and first single “Falling” are bold statements of intent, but the real joy lies within the latter half of the record–the irresistible “Bring It Back” and “Where R U Now?”, along with the acoustic introspection of “Blue”. It’s Curtis Mayfield, Ryan Adams and Aretha Franklin speeding through San Francisco with the hood down, listening to a compilation tape of funky grooves and sweet soul, but whether Butler would ever have seen himself involved with such a roadtrip 10 years ago is another matter. It’s certainly a long way from the eerie green streets that Suede’s Dog Man Star stalked. If Bring It Back attained classic status with a dizzy array of unforgettable songs, then perhaps it wouldn’t feel quite as much as though Butler is wasting his time with such projects. He needs a band, and to form a songwriting partnership that will nurture his delicate (and presently wasted) talent. “If I should spread my wings I could fly away”, McAlmont croons in the lavish “Falling”. Let’s hope for the future of British guitar music that he does. –Ben Johncock Product Description Second full length release from former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler & singer David McAlmont. Described by McAlmont, this CD is “a bit of West Coast, a bit of Motown. It’s like a history of classic pop fanaticism”.