Stay Lonely. Blood Red Shoes

When Laura-Mary Carter released her solo record last year and Steven Ansell was producing more and more bands, I feared I had lost another band that I had come to like a lot. So I was pleasantly surprised when a new Blood Red Shoes single was announced before the summer. When the album was announced I took Stay Together to be the title. It still sounds more appropriate in my frame of mind than Stay Lonely, that it actually is.

All these thoughts aside, Stay Lonely is a fantastic album. My favourite so far is 'In Time To Voices' but the album has a clear contender for that spot. On the past two albums the duo brought in more electronics but the songs were not absolute top and here the mix is there once again but with the songs to match the best that came before.

Stay Lonely is an album that is impossible to put on stage as a duo, so I expect some sidekicks on stage just like when I saw the band some years ago. Besides the trickbox of effects on the guitar of Laura-Mary Carter there's a host of other sounds. Never a dull moment where the sounds are concerned, as usual.

What I really like on Stay Lonely is the slow singing in several of the songs. Without overemphasising, both Carter and Ansell take it slow on the album. That combination of singing and the quality of the melodies create songs that sound like real hits in my universe. It makes Stay Lonely an instant contender for record of the year in my book. It is exactly what I missed on 'Get Tragic' and 'Ghosts On Tape'. The smooth pop element underneath it all was (somewhat) lacking. Both albums are good, but do not have that little extra that Stay Lonely has in abundance.

Promo photo

I'm going to focus on two songs, 'Screams' and 'Two Weeks' to try and explain what I mean. 'Screams' after a few listening sessions makes me feel like I've know it all my life, without having me trying to find the hook in my head what it is that makes it so familiar. The song progresses so smoothly. It makes me want to sing the chorus all day long. 'Two Weeks' starts far more alternatively. Carter's guitar(s) are far more prominent, but again it is Ansell singing lead, this time with a great harmony from Carter behind him. Again the chorus is so smooth, the Moog sound behind it makes the music float as it were. The two are singing perfectly together. Just two examples of far more on offer on Stay Lonely.

Commercially Blood Red Shoes may not become bigger than it is now. With Stay Lonely the duo shows the world that it is far from spent where inspiration is concerned. Stay together would have been a good title indeed and I for one am glad they did just that.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Stay Lonely here:

https://jazzlife.bandcamp.com/album/stay-lonely