Review:'Scarlet Fantastic' 'From Montreal To Rotherham'
- Label: 'Last Night From Glasgow'
- Genre: 'Rock'
- Release Date: '8.3.26.'
Our Rating:
From Montreal To Rotherham is the latest album by 1980's pop band Scarlet Fantastic and the first since the bands creative force Maggie K De Monde's husband and creative partner Leif Kahal passed away. The album is being released on International Women's Day 2026. For this album Maggie worked with Basil Gabbidon, John L Walters and Hi-Fi Sean and others.
The album opens with the hushed intro to Make Way For Love before the synths and dancefloor beat come in, they make us feel their desire set your heart on fire, you obviously tell them you love them in French and then all the backing singers come in giving this a cool soulful edge.
Then they cover David Bowies classic Time stripping it back, Maggie's central vocal slowly telling the songs tale, violins and stripped back percussion, choral backing vocals making this a great cover, especially when the vocals go all spoken word Human League on us, sensibly they choose to reinvent the song, rather than try to sound like the original, this is a must hear for Bowie freaks like this reviewer.
Better Day is a soft quiet piano led prayer for a Better Day if the darkness doesn't carry them away on the violins and cello, hymnal qualities make this sad tale feel quite uplifting, taking the pain of loss and finding hope in the darkness.
Without Summer is for trying to move on and live your life after your partner has died, dreaming of those better days and finding ways through the malaise, gentle piano with wondrous choral backing, building through swells of strings finding ways to uplift, while trawling the depths where the light is non-existent.
Cowboy Guardian Angel her husband still looking over her from beyond, memoires of meeting him back in the day in his cowboy hat and spurs, the effect he had on her, the angelic backing stripped back and sparingly emotional.
Fill Me With Joy feels like an old school slow goth floor filler, but stripped back taken into a different direction, but you will always feel you deep within. Blossom Alley is sparse reflections of dreams, hopes, aspirations for the piano and Cello too dig into, before it goes a bit oompah military march delving into her secrets, this is unexpected and hopeful that memories aren't all she has left, before the emotional pinnacle climax.
Berlin Room has a loose laid back dance rhythm and percussion for Maggie's slow memories of love turned to dust, the pains of moving on from the bliss of lying with you in that sacred bed in that dark Berlin Room.
Injecting Thunder is cool jazz song with loads of finger snapping for this tale of loves introduction and seduction, how she's totally addicted from the moment you meet. The album closes with Jesus Green the place where she drinks too much for the angelic choirs to help her make the right decision again, on final beautiful reflection floating away with the violins.
Find out more at https://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/products/scarlet-fantastic-from-rotherham-to-montreal-lp-cd-dl? https://www.facebook.com/maggie.monde
