- Label: 'Last Night From Glasgow'
- Genre: 'Folk'
- Release Date: '6.3.26.'
Our Rating:
The Sun Never Sets is the debut album by Glasgow based Elgin & The Marbles whose folk rock asks all sorts of questions about the glory days of empire and colonialism. The Elgin Marbles are Callum Baird, Chris Dickie, Willem McKie, Andy Lucas and Laura Bissell. The album was produced by Paul McInally at 45-A-Side Recording. This review was written back in 2025 before more recent events unfolded, I haven't changed it, but several songs are even more pertinent now.
The album opens like were are back in the early 60's folk boom on Before The World Burns, while they lift lyrics from Lennon, they explore just how life is now led by algorithms and the thought that time speeds up as we get older, guitars slowly strummed, all the reflections come through in time for the harmonica to come back in.
The British Museum takes a good look at the ethos of creating a museum that celebrates the "glory days" of empire and all that was plundered along the way, cultural thievery is on display or just a worrying collection of the things previous British governments considered important, no matter how precious they are to the nations they were stolen from.
Something Good is a carefully strummed acoustic guitar song looking for some love among the ruins you've visited abroad. Stick To The Plan whatever you do follow the protocol and do what you've been told to do, it will all workout ok, no matter how mad that plan may seem, the plunder will make it seem ok, you need to believe Walter Scott and Maggie, because otherwise where would we all be, just another one of Boris Johnson's unacknowledged sprogs.
If Elvis Faked His Death would things really be better, would it have been the greatest lie we've been told in recent times, well no, the bitterness they feel at all the duplicity we are now surrounded by, this has a great sing along chorus and great central piano line.
Coronation Day asks why so many people bowed down in obeisance at the coronation of Charlie boy and the continuance of the Royal family, despite all the evidence to what might be wrong with the royal family, Callum wonders why even today lots of streets in Glasgow are still named after slavers and other relics of empire.
Stop The Boats is an anthem for the wrong headedness of thinking you can Stop The Boats with any of the solutions that the Tories, Labour and Reform have come up with, without dealing with the reasons people are fleeing war zones in the first place.
The Rebound is coming to bite you once more, with whiplash percussion reports, late night reflections for how things have ended up like this. My House is a screed against landlordism and how you get treated as a peon for being a rentier in this day and age, mandolin and harmonica drives this message of the always indentured poor, scrabbling to get by and pay the rent unfolds.
Nothing Like You is a piano led ballad for one that sets your heart ablaze, full of deep imagery of days of yore being used to celebrate his wonderment at all you possess. The Treasury's In Love with wonky as all hell fiscal policy, that doesn't do us a lot of good, they are at a drinks party at the Spectator and we know that will never end well, considering the politicos that have worked at that magazine, while they wonder when the good times were.
The album closes with When We Were Special back to the good old bad old days when you could go to huge record shops on five floors, they want to dig out old mix tapes and glory in the old hissy tapes while sounding like an old Dylan bootleg from the 60's, they want to return to the days of paying for everything in cash. Listening to Summerhill once more below the Southern cross while popping Alanis Jagged Little Pill, who would have thought those were the glory days.
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