- Label: 'Last Night From Glasgow'
- Genre: 'Indie'
- Release Date: '23.1.26.'
Our Rating:
When Britain Is Great is the second album by European Sun, they feature some of The UK's busiest Indie legends Steve Miles, Rob Pursey, Ian Button and Elin Miles.
The album opens with Choice Paralysis fuzzing indie pop with droll lyrics about overwhelming choices of modern day living, when everything is available at the touch of a phone screen, they want less.
Going Viral asks the question of how you know if you will go Viral, while coming from musicians who have managed the trick a few times, this hard-won experience of the stars of insta and Tik Tok, the glitterati spill the know-how, or just wonderfully odd home-made indie pop wonderment with girl group backing vocals.
Dad is the slow memories of Dad at home holding court pointing out all the awfulness of life's tragedies before leaving too soon, not see you grow into the man you are now. Wonderfully redolent, downbeat and sumptuously beautiful letter to his Dad.
The Angels In The Cloud takes a military two step beat and western guitars, to accentuate this tale trying to re-assure us, despite all the evidence, that it will be all right. In Bedford Falls about searching for Mistletoe and lost keys, this dark poem atmospherically challenges the disparity between billionaires and creating a world fit for everyone to live peacefully together.
The Space She Left a slow sombre eulogy for a love that's gone too soon, a triangle, wood block and cornet joined by the strings, the final visit, how will she look now she is about to be gone, leaving you alone with all the sadness.
Falling Down The Stairs With Arthur Seaton cheers things up a bit, this has a jaunty zydeco indie pop feel for youthful adventures, hoping the storms will pass while dreaming of being a Cosmonaut. The second song listed on my copy as being Falling Down The Stairs With Arthur Seaton is the actual song of that name and comes with great falling down the stairs drums, swirling organ, investigating the world of political deceit we live in.
Edward Colston's Likeness is an Enya like harp backing, to the slow narration of what was wrong with Edward Colston's veneration and statuary, why it should be removed, this has prescient echoes across the Atlantic where a certain someone wants everything named after himself.
When Britain Was Great when our bigotry was more open, the great days when we could smoke anywhere and hate the Germans with gay abandon, can't we go back to the good old bad old days, the old school tie and a self-selecting establishment ruling the roost, where those days really better, sardonic regrets that things have changed so little.
Their Ncuti Gatwa Poster a slow poem for the downtrodden, beaten by there partner, the need for the victims of me too to be heard and helped, the violas of sorrow making clear your life matters and help should be there for all.
When I Have Fears that unlike in days of yore, we aren't united by knowing who the enemy are, who we need to take on to defeat, instead they would rather we had a score draw, can we find the things we agree on and build consensus, life would be better for all of us in a peaceful equitable world.
School Report is 17 minutes standalone single and album closer of pulsating guitars in The Gift style, for this Waldo Jeffers style deep dive into his School Reports and all the snarky comments his teachers made, in many ways he was lucky as they sound reasonably positive, certainly compared to my ones, prattling on about burnt toast and wondering how much better his childhood would have been with google, does he still take small steps every day. Ranting about his hatred of phone calls and that you only ever get bad news in the mail these days, while remembering the girls he lusted after on the bus home from School, while complaining about spotty wifi. Getting ghosted as a 9-year-old by his best friend, excluding him from his Birthday party, but it was all for the best in the end. The endless lists of characteristics and obsessions full of anxiety modern and not so modern living.
Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/europeansunmusic https://europeansunmusic.bandcamp.com/album/when-britain-was-great-2
