Bubblegum

Bubblegum, the mind-blowing sixth album from Clinic, is exactly forty minutes long. Usually, long players by this most extraordinary British band clock in at a clipped half-hour. That makes an extra 33% of murky psychedelic/punk excellence. But there's a little more to it than that. This one comes from another planet, baby. Bubblegum is a different bag of butternut squash. On one listen, it feels instantly warmer, lusher, less uptight. It glows like dusk in a balmy Indian Summer. The revelatory opener, 'I'm Aware,' ushers in an exquisitely languorous sound based around lazily strummed acoustic guitars, muted synths, distant wah-wah, soft lyrical murmurings and, on this one occasion, quietly lavish strings. Any other band would've hired in the orchestra for the whole album, but not this one. There are instead all manner of strange sonic delights subtly laced through. The prevailing mood: hazy, wistful, bittersweet, evocative of lengthening shadows, and the imminence of autumn. So, Bubblegum is painted from an even more variable sound-palette than usual, reminiscent of warm-'n'-fuzzy groovers, from Shuggie Otis to Harvest-era Neil Young. As you're sucked into its seductive haze, there are strong echoes of old-school Clinic. 'Lion Tamer' and 'Sapphire' rattle along at the frenetic, pulsating pace of vintage classics like 'The Return of Evil Bill' and 'Walking With Thee' - and just check that beat on 'Lion Tamer'! 'Baby,' meanwhile, blends classic Roky and Velvets vibrations, but their more fragile ones - 'Can't Seem to Make You Mine' meets 'I'll Be Your Mirror.' Another factor in Clinic's evolution was their working with a producer, for the first time since 2004's Winchester Cathedral. The man in question, John Congleton, was suggested by Domino boss Laurence Bell, inspired by his warmth-bringing wizardry for, among others, Bill Callahan and Okkervil River. Since Winchester Cathedral, Blackburn and co. have been self-sufficient in their Liverpool hideout, always creating tracks as sound experiments, ie as self producers, anyway. But perhaps it was time to break from their isolationism, and let in some light from outside. Clinic are still Ade Blackburn (voice, guitar, dulcimer, etc), Brian Campbell (bass, backing vocals, etc), Hartley (guitar, clarinet, etc), Carl Turney (drums, percussion, etc). They are still the business.