After over 20 years playing in
Teenage Fanclub
and a few playing with
the Pastels
,
Lightships
is
Gerard Love
's first crack at a solo career. Gathering up friends like
Bob Kildea
from
Belle & Sebastian
Tom Crossley
of
International Airport
, and original
TFC
drummer
Brendan O'Hare
Love
spent time between
records and tours crafting a beguiling album that has roots in the chiming guitar pop sound he helped create but is far more atmospheric and low-key.
's songs in
the Fanclub
are often the band's most direct and powerfully pop, but on
Electric Cables
he approaches the songs much more subtly, burying the rhythm guitars deep in the mix and adding all kinds of sound on top. His (and
Dave McGowan
's) guitar lines snake around the melodies gracefully,
Crossley
's flute floats through like a peaceful bird, and the album is swimming in tremolo and delay but not so much that it buries the beauty of
's melodies and the heartwarming quality his vocals (both alone and in harmony) effortlessly transmit. A good reference point to the sound of
would be "Vivid Youth," the enchanting song
co-wrote on the
Pastels
/
Tenniscoats
album
Two Sunsets
. Like that song, the bulk of the album here has a late-autumn feel, very pastoral and peaceful with only the stray loud chorus (as on the uplifting "Silver and Gold") to break the mood a little. Even the tracks that up the tempo and/or dynamics a little (like "Stretching Out" or the truly lovely "Sweetness in Her Spark") are so coated in flutey atmosphere that they seem quietly dozy in the best possible way.
's introspective lyrics and comforting voice are a half-made bed beckoning you back for a late-afternoon nap; the sound of the record is like the warm and cozy comforter on that bed. Shaking loose of the sweet and calming spell the album casts is as hard as waking up on a stormy fall afternoon.
is the best record to come out of the
camp in a long time; the other guys in the band will no doubt be justifiably proud of
Gerard
's artistic success, but might also be wondering why he didn't save some of the songs and sonic imagination for the group's next outing. Regardless of how his bandmates might feel, those who like their indie pop filled with soft light and tender beauty will fall in love with this album quite easily. ~ Tim Sendra