The Clientele - Bonfires on the Heath

[pop frenzy / merge: 2009]

I've just made some new friends. Friends I plan to take with me to a coastal headland sometime soon with a blanket and a bottle of red as the weather cools and the sun is putting itself to bed. While the waves do their crashing, my ears will do their listening - to The Clientele’s 'Bonfires on the Heath' as the onshore breeze slaps my face. Delightful. Thank you Popfrenzy for releasing this album of sublime lullaby layering, harmony & melody.
Trumpet trills, hammond organ runs, breathy vocals and subtle strumming melt over opening track 'I Wonder Who We Are' and then dips into the more melancholic introspection of 'Harvest'. Cue the pour of your second glass of red. This music feels like an Autumn day when you are reluctantly letting go of the Summer sunshine but well ready for the mood of cooler weather.
'Bonfires on the Heath' is this London quartet's 5th album and Alasdair MacLean is their main songwriter and vocalist - and the band harmonise beautifully around his breathy vocals.

Halfway through the record you get the urge to dust off my cobwebbed tambourine and play along. 'Bonfires on the Heath' is sweet and sometimes a little sad but it is always beautiful. The Clientele create luscious indie pop with a bittersweet dose of folk. Perhaps I should have brought some 85% cocoa chocolate with me to cap off the bottle of red I’ve finished - Drunk and wonderfully heavy-hearted. Hear this record.

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