The Clientele: Bonfires on the Heath

The same day this spring that I wrote in lukewarm terms about my CD copy of this album, I ordered a vinyl copy. Go figure. There's a collector's logic to this, but it's a perverse one.

The feeling of déjà vu is… to be expected. As in April, I'm revisiting Bonfires just a few days after a Clientele gig. It wasn't remotely a poor gig. But I can't escape the feeling that the band have been treading water, at least since this album came out last autumn.

To be fair, they had updated I Know I Will See Your Face, shedding the Forever Changes ornamentation and making it more angular and muscular. But that aside, there seemed to be little enthusiasm for the newer material: only two songs each from Bonfires and this year's release Minotaur. You may expect the audience to take a while to take new songs to heart, but you still want to feel that the band believes passionately in what they're doing now — even if the belief is unfounded.

Last time I said there were two and half great songs here. I meant I Know I Will See Your Face, Never Anyone But You and Walking in the Park. I now appreciate that Never Saw Them Before is pretty fine, too.

We made it to Dulwich Wood, one of the named inspirations behind this album, over the summer. The Boy quickly got up to his ankles in sticky mud and had to be carried nine tenths of the way.

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