Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark
In the mid ’90s, I pretty much gave up on new music. It just seemed boorish, laddish and, in the case of Britpop, just too damned retro. Just before the turn of the millennium, new music was brought back into my life by a trio of acts on Chemikal Underground: Mogwai, Delgados and Arab Strap.
After a succession of ever better albums and ten years of tears, Arab Strap split in 2006. Malcolm Middleton and Aidan Moffat have released some great music since then but, good as those were, I yearned for them to reunite. Following the critically acclaimed shows of 2016, they are finally releasing new music.
When a much-loved act makes a comeback, there is a worry that they will somehow mess it up and tarnish their past. Those fears meant I put off listening to this for a week. What a fool I was. This is quite probably the best Arab Strap album yet. It is clearly the work of Arab Strap but has a feel similar to Leonard Cohen’s late period comeback - although I suspect they may hate that comparison - and there are strong hints of the works the duo did in their time apart. Moffat is in fine voice and his lyrics are as superb as ever, managing to be tender, romantic, melancholy, sleazy, life–affirming and downright disturbing, often in the space of a verse or two. From finger-picked melodies to soaring solos, Middleton’s guitar playing is glorious throughout.
Look, I absolutely LOVE Arab Strap but please trust me on this. This is brilliant and is already a very strong contender for album of the year. Buy it.
10/10
