What Time Can Do is Nick Haeffner's sixth solo album now fully re-mastered by Paul Tipler. Nick Haeffner is best known as a member of the Tea Set, this album was recorded with Chris A. Cummings, William Hayter, Marcus Holdaway, Pierre Lassegues, Yani Martinelli, Ian Montague, Clive PiG, Arjuna Satchitananathan, Allan Seago, Sowa, Getrude Veremu, Jim Wallis and Nat Yelverton. It was produced by Nick Haeffner and has been re-mastered for this issue by Paul Tipler.
The album opens with the title song What Time Can Do that has a lazy almost trip-hop pop feel, laid back hazy and with broad production making the instrumentation feel like you're surrounded by band, lush strings add to the feelings that it's simply too hot to do anything at all.
The River Knows A Secret feels like an old folk song being updated into a chamber pop song, investigating the power the river has over him. Imagining being able to drift away to the deep blue sea, with cadences of hootenanny's past.
In The Life is built around organ flourishes and a question and answer feel, to the interaction of Nick and the backing singers' reminiscences, of what life was like, back when he was In the life and up to no good.
The Cat's Pyjamas is soft chamber soul for someone who you adore, no matter how much they ignore you, it makes no difference how much you prostrate yourself at their feet, they still just ignore you aww, not even making Roxy Music references helps them.
My Funny Valentine is brighter than Nico's version, this has a cafe jazz feel, that takes away some of the sadness, that burns through many of my favourite versions of this timeless classic, but the way the guitar and keys work is quite magical.
There's Another World full of quiet reflections for those moments of peace, when all the cacophony of life recedes and you find your own personal paradise. The Years Lie in Wait For You switches between Pierre Lassegues French narration and Getrude Veremu and Nicks soulful retorts, trying to roll back the years that cannot be rolled back no matter how much you try to conjure them up with the trombone solo.
I'm Not Here Right Now may make you disappear before the squelchy bass arrives, next to the Djangoesque guitar figure, Nick ponders on what it means to grow old and no long have to pay any more dues.
Versailles 1783 has a sense of dread and foreboding in the slow deliberate organ that sounds like a clavinet or Virginal the strings are built around, is this what a revolution sounds like, not certain.
It's All Maggie Thatcher's Fault is full of bitterness and despairing thoughts of how things might have been, if we hadn't gone through the Thatcher revulsion, the music is quite subtly pretty despite what Nick is singing about.
The album closes with a cover of Gustav Holst's punk classic Cranham, stripped back to its essence with long tonal shifts under the delicate acoustic guitar strums.
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