The debut
album from The Melting Ice Caps is a delight; chock full of wonderfully crafted
songs and beautiful singing. It’s the kind of thing that people often describe
as being terribly English, when really its just what happens when someone
savours singing every word and takes great care when writing every word and
crafting melodies. This confusion is perhaps best shown by the Divine Comedy
who are often thought of this way, despite the main and only man being Irish,
but qualifying for the latter qualities.
It kicks
off with a brief title track, a minute in which space is plenty, but a lot is
packed in. He’s a hopeless romantic. He being David, the main man and centrepiece
of the band. The romance is not just in beauty, but in the everyday, in the
downbeat and downtrodden.
With Ghost
Writer a disco beat arrives and I’m reminded of the Pet Shop Boys. Often I hear
hints of The Associates in the music too. David doesn’t soar like Billy
Mackenzie used to, but he has that delicious arch quality.
The
pinnacle of the album is the nigh on perfect pop song that is Indian Summer. As
well as the joy of summer it has the hope of Spring and warmth of Autumn.
Closer Medical Advice is fun, and reminds me of Marc Almond doing his Jacques
Brel thing.
Find the Melting Ice Caps website here, which also tells you where you can buy it.
