Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow. Sorrows

And so it happens again, three short posts on one day, so as to give credit where it is due. This is the first of the three.

It's only a month ago that Sorrows debuted on the blog with its single 'Out Of My Head'. Here's the album. Expect a long, fourteen songs, long trip down memory lane. A stark rocking trip, so don't expect any nostalgic snoozing on the couch with soft ballads playing in the background.

In fact you're listening to the past and yet not entirely. Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow was recorded in 1981 but never released at the time. Original member Arthur Alexander remixed the original recordings and that is what we hear in 2025.

At the time NYC band Sorrows released one record in 1980, 'Teenage Heartbreak'. It was followed in 2021 by ' LOVE TOO LATE… the real album'. Most likely this is the last one of the band that folded decades ago. With its latest the band adds 11 songs to its oeuvre plus three covers, including 'Have You Seen Your Mother Baby Standing In The Shadows'. One of the Stones' most disappointing songs, seen from its expectations in 1966 that is. What Sorrows shows is the enormous energy the song has.

Press photo

Musically, Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow is a bit of a puzzle. Musical influences are all over the album. That the band liked The Who is not exactly a mystery. Neither were The Beatles. 'Cricket Man' was a tribute to John Lennon, written soon after his murder in 1980. Textually and musically, including an 'I'm The Walrus' excerpt, it's all over the song.

There's a lot more to discover for you, including that great T Rex inspired, yet 60s extravaganza called 'Out Of My Head', a The Stray Cats inspired song (one of the highlights!) and a great rocking version of Gene Vincent's 'Something Else'. Enough to make you want to listen, I'd say.

 Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow here:

https://bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com/album/parting-is-such-sweet-sorrow