Some of you younger readers may not fully appreciate the tactile, tangible beauty of the vinyl format. In this world of downloads and digital releases, disembodied music files and standalone tracks, the idea of a collection of songs, not only in physical form but wrapped in sumptuous artwork, its gatefold sleeve allowing room for notes and a space for lyric sheets, and the music itself forming a deliberately dictated sonic journey, may seem anathema to today’s zeitgeist. But this latest compilation from the excellently named Last Charge of the Light Horse delivers all of that, plus an overview of twenty years of marvelous and masterful music making.
Touching on all periods of Jean-Paul Vest’s project, if nothing else, it reminds us that music needs to evolve, that artists can’t just explore the same sonic ground all the time, and so this is a record that documents the high points of his continual quest for creative pastures new.
So if “Getaway Car” is a refined rock and roll groover, lazy and slightly world-weary, “Face to Face,” which follows, is a spacious, deftly picked, and poignant musing on siblings grown apart with the passing of time. While “Kindred Minds” is a clever piece of intricate indie, a song shot through with both the charming and the chiming, the deft and the delicate, “In a Dead Calm” is a poised alt-pop ballad, and “Torricelli’s Ocean” is searing and cinematic. There is even room for excursions into the reggae-infused with “Chocolate and Cherries” just as readily as the clashing and shimmering “Choose Now,” a song that reminds me of any number of cool, underground British bands from the eighties, such as Black, Orange Juice, and Aztec Camera, a fact that speaks volumes of the songwriting chops on display here.
With 19 tracks on offer, it would take a much longer review to begin to do this overview of Last Charge of the Light Horse justice. I will say that if you are a fan of the more intelligent and articulate end of the indie/pop spectrum, then you should waste no more time reading this paltry write-up; instead, even as I type, you should be in the process of ordering the album. You’ll thank me for the suggestion.
Go on, what are you waiting for?
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