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Locked Down & Stripped Back
Barnes and Noble
Locked Down & Stripped Back
Current price: $22.99
Barnes and Noble
Locked Down & Stripped Back
Current price: $22.99
Size: OS
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When the global pandemic shelved
leader
's plans to hold his annual At the Edge of the Sea festival in 2020, he pivoted to holding it online with bands sending in videos of at-home songs and concerts. His own band performed a 12-song set that saw them running through old classics and newly written songs in stripped-down, semi-acoustic fashion. The results were so good that they decided to commercially release the audio, thus the appearance in early 2021 of
.
is in fine voice as he vigorously strums his acoustic guitar and his bandmates (bassist
, drummer
, and ex-
guitarist
) chug along. The song choices are an inspired lot, ranging from early classics like "My Favorite Dress" and "You Should Always Keep in Touch with Your Friends" to deep cuts ("Grenadaland" and a
-sung "Sports Car"), a brilliant take on a beloved stray track ("Crawl"), and a new song ("You're Just a Habit I Was Trying to Break") co-written by
and
. The
connection led to
tackling a previously unreleased song by that band, "We Should Be Together," a charming duet sung with
. This is a Britpop dream come to life and the meshing of their voices makes it clear that it's long past time for
to do an album of duets with female vocalists. There's no doubt that plenty of singers would line up for a chance to go toe-to-toe with
. When they do, they'll find a singer who hasn't lost an inch due to age or boredom, fronting a band who continue to figure out new ways to breathe life into their catalog and write new tracks that continue to explore the intricacies of love and disappointment in microscopic detail.
is likely only of real interest to longtime fans of the band, but that being said, it's a lovely gift to their dedicated fan base. ~ Tim Sendra