Lightning in the Twilight Hour- SLOW CHANGES ep (ELEFANT)

I can tell that voice anywhere. Yup, it’s Mr. Bobby Wratten who since the late 80’s with the Field Mice has been breaking hearts all over the world with his patented melancholy. After the Field Mice disbanded Wratten and company then formed Northern Picture Library, not totally unlike the ‘mice but with more keyboards and electronics. Same with his next the band, his longest running one yet, the superb Trembling Blue Stars. He put that band to rest a few years ago and after a few years is back with yet another band marrying his world of melancholy and electronics (and soothing keyboard passages all over the place). Along with longtime producer Ian Catt (who has produced nearly everything Wratten has done) and pals Michael Hiscock (Field Mice bassist), Beth Arzy (TBS) and Anne Mari Barker-Davies (who many of the TBS songs were written about) Wratten is back with seven more songs. The first three, “Everyone Talks About the Weather,” “The Death of Silence” and “Ancient Fiction” are as good as anything Wratten has ever written, all warm melancholy with plenty of hooks. The remaining songs are more short ambient, electronic experiments, not awful or anything but not nearly as engaging (pleasant as background music…..my favorite is “Tonal Fade”).  This guy is Mr. Consistency. I believe there’s a full-length coming sometime this year and I cannot wait. www.elefant.com