Shirley Lee - Winter Autumn Summer Spring

  by Dixie Ernill

published: 11 / 6 / 2011

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Review

It is a bold move to serve up a double album of new material and bolder still to make it a concept double album, but Shirley Lee has never been afraid of pushing boundaries and exploring ideas. Indeed one of the finest albums his old band, Spearmint, released was the excellent 'Paris in a Bottle', that told the story of a summer spent busking in France and the ensuing aftermath. The thirty songs that make up 'Winter Autumn Summer Spring' are based loosely around a chance meeting in San Francisco of a couple about to get married and a stranger contemplating suicide. Starting with the meeting, the songs trace back through the lives of the three characters to reveal how/why they came to meet there, on The Golden Gate Bridge, that day. The opening line of the album is "I think about death", in the song 'Maidenhead' and it gives a strong hint that this isn't going to be the instant pop that flavoured much of Spearmint's back-catalogue. Despite being a very reflective album, covering some quite weighty subjects and emotions, there are, however, still enough lighter, melodic touches to keep the interest beyond the first disc. It is an ambitious idea though and in truth there is certainly a sense of relief/achievement when closing track, ' I Can Wait' finally ends. Shirley's keen eye for detail in his lyrics and his Jarvis Cocker-esque way of switching his vocal style between singing and narrating is present and correct, while his ear for a good tune with a subtle twist is as sharp as ever. He is one of the best at eeking out beauty from odd and/or mundane situations and 'Winter Autumn Summer Spring' is no exception. The lounge pop of 'The Coast of Capri' nestling nicely alongside gentle reminisce of 'The Boy in the Picture', while the strummed pop of 'Tamaki Drive' and 'Paris, As You Turned Twenty-Nine' are warm highlights. Current download only single 'An Old Cricketer (For John Peel)' is a heartfelt homage to the great man pretty much in the shape of a list of all the great music he introduced to his listeners over the years. These are a mere taster of what rewards this album holds and I strongly recommend that you pencil in a couple of hours in a quiet room to find out for yourselves.

Track Listing:-

1 Maidenhead
2 Death
3 One Day We'll Get Married
4 Coming Home
5 Winter Light
6 The Girl in the Book
7 Hold My Breath
8 The Christmas Present
9 Beachy Head
10 Selfless
11 The Haunted
12 All These Things
13 The Country Darkness
14 We Had Forever
15 In the Photograph
16 I Remember You
17 An Old Cricketer (For John Peel)
18 Suddenly It Was Summer
19 The Coast of Capri
20 The Boy in the Picture
21 Passing Lights
22 Memories of a Summer
23 Tracing It Back
24 Keep Writing Your Dreams Down
25 Tamaki Drive
26 Paris, As You Turned Twenty-Nine
27 We Will Never Be This Young Again
28 Alpine Zoo
29 Good Days and Bad Days
30 I Can Wait