CLAYHILL'S stock has steadily risen since the release of their critically-acclaimed debut album "Small Circle" and the surprisingly immediate single "Northern Soul" last autumn.
Again taken from the parent album, "Moon I Hide", though, seems a perverse choice for a follow-up, especially when the mothership also harbours punchy tracks like "Alpha Male" which makes its' presence felt very early on. That's not intended as a slight, however, as "Moon I Hide" is still a plaintive, rustic near-ballad of quality, built around Ali Friend's elastic double bass runs, Ted Barnes' busy, fingerpicked guitar and Gavin Clark's gorgeously fragile and emotive voice. It swings and sways, is a thing of wonder in any season and - given a few plays - again works its' way comfortably into your heart.
The B-side, meanwhile, will be familiar to anyone who's caught one of the band's devastatingly good acoustic trio soirees of late. It's a starkly effective cover of The Smiths' unimpeachable "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want." Yes, I realise even slipping within touching distance of that band's hallowed back catalogue is usually enough to have alarm bells trilling, but while Clayhill's take hardly betters the original, it's still in possession of a delicious gravitas all its' own. Had it made the recent disappointment that was the Smiths' tribute album "How Soon Is Now?" then we might have had reason to evaluate that particular record, but even in this lowly B-side role it's worthy of inclusion.
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Clayhill, then, are one of those consistently fantastic bands that avoid detection on the trendometer, but proceed to enrich your life by simply being devastatingly good at being themselves. "Moon I Hide" is another quietly marvellous record that any self-respecting discerning music fan needs to have to hand.
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