Clientele

"Share the Night"

BY Cam LindsayPublished May 23, 2008

Over the course of the last eight years, London's the Clientele have edged ever so closely to breaking free of their delicate frame that time after time has come in the package of tender, wispy melodies wrapped in full-on '60s soft pop throwback. But in actuality, it never really happened.

I wouldn't say they've been stuck in a standstill, but as a longtime fan, something had to give, because as Oasis has taught us you can only make the same album six times before people begin to lose interest. Okay, that's a bad example. Basically, even the most beautiful music has to get a little dirty sometimes.

While "Share the Night" doesn't exactly introduce the Clientele's sleazy side, it does show another side that we've yet to hear. They've decided to keep the reverb reduced, but also boost the beat and throw in a... funky guitar riff, yep, with a complementary backbeat that would have made acid heads (almost) lose their minds back when this sound originated. And I do believe they lay down one mutha of a burnin' guitar solo, which must be a first for a band known best for their shyness.

Taken from their forthcoming That Night, A Forest Grew EP for Spain's Acuarela label, "Share the Night" shows there's a lot more to the Clientele than I suspected, but no less hoped would one day surface. Maybe, just maybe, they'll shoot for a full-on, radio-made single for their next Merge album, or even better, Alasdair MacLean will give us an emotion other than wistful.

The Clientele "Share the Night"

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