| At one point, it seemed as if the world would
shortly belong to Hothouse Flowers. Indeed,
their knack for retaining the intimate and
gentle in widescreen songs was unsurpassed.
Then, singer Liam O'Maonlai, at least, gave
the impression he had other - more important
but unspecified - things on his mind. Now,
they're back and they've shed drummer Jerry
Fehily and worldly saxophonist Leo Barnes,
whom Born missed terribly. It's an odd affair.
They try to be funky on Find The Time and
a Hothouse Flowers song entitled Turn Up
The Reverb suggests things are not as they
were. They can do grunge-lite, but there
hasn't been a more self-conscious song this
year. They're too gifted not to turn out
excellent albums and At Last, with O'Maonlai
wailing "shed your innocence" against
an orchestra hammering Pachelbel's Canon
in D Major is glorious, likewise Learning
To Walk, Born itself and the oddly vocalled
Pop Song. Spooky but classy. |
