The (fairground) attraction is, astonishingly, all the more, after 36 years away. Comeback of the year!

Release Date: 20th September 2024

Label: Raresong Recordings

Format: CD / vinyl / digital

Oasis schmoasis, this is a whole more enticing; new material no less, as well as a tour, the dynamism all in the performance rather than the pricing. So then, Fairground Attraction, how long’s it been? Well, that, it’s true, eventually slightly irritating song hit number one on the 8th of May, 36 years ago, in and as a per-er-er-erfect tsunami. One album, double platinum, a further top 10 hit, a tour or two, the band especially big in Japan and quits, barely two years in.

Musical differences never formally cited, the given rationale was to pursue solo careers, the planned and part prepared 2nd album never seeing daylight, although a subsequent mop-up collection of b sides did rather well. Now, suddenly, shockingly, they are back, that Japanese market responsible for the lure of a tour thereto. And with a precison domino effect, they duly discovered more music inside of them, booked a studio and here we are.

that song

Of the four members, it is probably fair to suggest Eddi Reader did subsequently the best, the singer still a top draw on the Scottish folk circuit, she still never allowed to leave the stage without singing that song. Mark E. Nevin, the behatted guitarist, writer of nearly every song, went on to form the shortlived Sweetmouth, with Van Morrison echo chamber, Brian Kennedy, ahead of a solo career largely under the radar. He still could pen a fair tune, mind, writing with a notable array of better known artists, including Kirsty MacColl and one Stephen Morrissey, with one of those co-writes attracting a David Bowie cover. The other two, Roy Dodds and Simon Edwards, drums and guitarron, that big old acoustic bass, respectively, went on to sessions and production work, reliable hired hands for when their particular skills were needed.

something beautiful is happening

But is it any good, once the glaze of nostalgia has dripped from our eyes? As the first track, the title track, leaps out the speakers, the simple answer is that, no, it’s better. Call me soppy, but, really, it is, with Reader sounding as heavenly as only she can. But first we get a brief languid acoustic guitar intro, echoes of an old cantina, Reader first breathing out the lyric. An accordion joins, along with Edwards’ chunky guitarron, and it is a languid lilting lament for “something beautiful“.

A slow burn, it flickers beguilingly, wo-oahs adding to the glow of catching embers. What sounds like vibraphone sparkles at the edges, it evident that the band is the fuller, filled out touring version,. A quick check of the credits confirming that point, with Roger Beaujolais and Graham Henderson adding vibes and accordion. Something beautiful, as the lyric says, is indeed happening.

Sing Anyway is a livelier piece, strummed guitars and Reader’s sultry vocal almost evoking a lazy morning version of Dancing In The Dark. Brass comes from the Kick Horns, and pedal steel from Mel Duffy, each giving a sense of perspective lacking in their debut, together with a chorus to die for, provided you can stop yourself swaying along to it. It is a corker, as is A Hundred Years Of Heartache, a liltingly sad song that weeps all the way into the desert. A majestic brushed shuffle, it is constructed perfectly, a flickering mandolin the shine of tears.

single and serious

Learning To Swim shouts single, a pure pop confection of ukelele and accordion, a brisk drumbeat driving it forward into ear worm territory. It’s slight, it’s trite, it’s neither big nor clever, but it’s as sure as hell catchy. Ditch the background chatter, though, an affectation of little added value. More ‘serious’ fare comes courtesy Gatecrashing Heaven, southern soul through a jug band prism, the instrumentation seemingly at odds with the style of song, carrying it off regardless, with vibes of early 6o’s pre-Merseybeat filtering through. Beaujolais is particularly effective on this one, apparently Reader’s favourite.

Sun And Moon brings back the Kick Horns, brilliantly, for some slinky jump jive, introducing guitarron to the concept of walking bass. Indeed, Dodds and Edwards risk taking the focus from their better known bandmates, just so darn effective and efficient their accompaniment. Handclap percussion is sort of inevitable as it stretches out, the band calling this neo-skiffle, terminology I can live with. Plus a glorious sudden ending to catch you, literally, on the hop.

That brusque conclusion, however, clears the decks superbly for possibly my top tune, The Simple Truth, a Costello-esque melody that could have come off My Aim Is True. That is, until Reader unleashes one of her trademark swoops into falsetto, just as strings sweep in. The match between the earlier verse and the bountiful egg of the chorus shouldn’t gel, but it does. It warrants a second play to fully appreciate the melodrama of the conclusion, itself not a million miles from a much later Costello.

throwback

Hey Little Brother is a further 60’s throwback, with a killer refrain, Reader rolling the lyric around her vocal range, the ease with which she can ride any vocal merry-go-round a gauntlet for other singers. The sly funk in disguise of a cheeky electric guitar chug rounds this one out, it containing even a brief guitarron solo. This is then followed by a mexicali waltz that soft shoes into mariachi, the horns crooning gently against Nevin’s rippling guitar. A song of rekindled love, could it sum up the appeal of album?

I don’t know about neo-skiffle, but Miracles certainly hits a skiffle groove, a further sturdy foot-tapper, with a lingering refrain around where miracles start. (In the heart, of course, with Duffy bending the strings of his steel in sympathy for the ones of your heart.) To bring thing right to an end comes a lullaby, as sweet a bedtime air as you might wish, with the spoonful of sugar, sweetening it, dealt liberally by Reader, avoiding the overload saccharine can sometimes provide. A Lullaby For Irish Triplets, like Beautiful Happening at the start, provides the perfect (bedtime story) book ending.

toothsome and warming

I confess, a little part of me thought this may turn out to be a record of unfortunate mush, or toothless formulaic pap. Nothing could be further and, even with the undoubted dose of nostalgia, it is toothsome and warming. The quartet can be praised for putting aside any previous, for whatever reason, and taking as much care as they clearly have. Again, it is Nevin who has taken on the bast majority of the writing, if taking a shared hand in a couple. And, even if they include the odd reprise of tracks initially meant for elsewhere, really, we can pretend, really he was writing for this day all along. File under pop, folk, country, whatever the damn you like, but file also under fun.

Here’s that title track:

The band tour the UK starting next week (and ATB will be there.):

Saturday 28th September – Wolverhampton, The Wulfrun Hall

Sunday 29th September – Manchester, Opera House

Tuesday 1st October – York, Barbican

Thursday 3rd October – Gateshead, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

Friday 4th October – Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall

Saturday 5th October – London, Royal Festival Hall

Monday 7th October – Cambridge, Corn Exchange

Tuesday 8th October – Brighton, Dome

Thursday 10th October – Oxford, New Theatre

Friday 11th October – Bristol, Beacon

Monday 14th October – Perth, Concert Hall

Wednesday 16th October – Aberdeen, Music Hall

Thursday 17th October – Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall

Friday 18th October – Edinburgh, Usher Hall

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