Simon Love - Love, Sex and Death Etc

  by Kimberly Bright

published: 21 / 6 / 2022

---

Review

By turns sweet and purely acrid, Simon Love’s latest album continues where 2018’s 'Sincerely, S. Love X 'left off. That’s not a bad thing, because 'Sincerely' was a stellar album. The songs here were written between 2017 and 2019 rather than during the pandemic, but he used 2020 to concentrate on six months of rehearsals and two batches of recording sessions with The Old Romantics. His affection comes across clearly when he sings about his wife ('Me & You', 'I Will Always Love You Anyway', 'The Worst Way to Die') and young son ('Au Revoir My Dude'), both of whom he obviously adores. 'Au Revoir My Dude' contains excellent life advice, as a bonus. Love’s rage toward Conservative politicians '“I Will Dance', 'You’re On Your Own') is completely understandable and he does speak for a lot of people. His more general, deceptively cheerful hate songs can be applied to any target: enemies, exes, in-laws, co-workers, creeps, neighbors, former friends, or whoever else’s future grave deserves to be danced on. The gorgeous viciousness of 'I Love Everybody in the Whole Wide World (Except You)' alone would make this a good album. Luckily the rest of the tracks remain comfortably close to that high standard. His wryness and self-deprecation are close to the mark of Nick Lowe and Ray Davies, while the surprising, earnest country of 'I Will Always Love You Anyway' brings to mind Michael Nesmith. The ballad of an unplanned one-night stand gone terribly wrong, 'L-O-T-H-A-R-I-O,' deserves its own skit, dramatic interpretation, or spoken-word piece. The strength of 'Love, Sex and Death Etc.' lies in Love’s unaffected writing and his enviable depth of decades worth of rock and pop knowledge to draw upon. I’m relieved that he didn’t choose another line of work during the COVID lockdown or go completely mad, like so many people did (artists and non-artists alike). Instead he made another excellent album with his mates.

Track Listing:-

1 Me And You
2 I Will Dance
3 The Fuck-Up
4 North Road
5 You're On Your Own
6 Yvonne
7 I Will Always Love You Anyway
8 The Worst Way To Die
9 L-O-T-H-A-R-I-O
10 I Love Everybody In The Whole Wide World (Except You)
11 Au Revoir My Dude
12 Me And You (Reprise)

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/SimonLoveMusi
http://simonlove.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/simonloverules

Label Links:-

http://www.tapeterecords.de/
https://www.facebook.com/tapeterecords
https://twitter.com/tapete
https://www.youtube.com/user/tapeterec

Play in YouTube:-

Have a Listen:-