Album Name: The Long Lost
Artist: The Long Lost
Year/Label: 2009 / Ninja Tune
[Buy at Amazon]
[The Long Lost on Emusic]
Review by Anna Maria Stjärnell
Alfred Darlington who’s recorded as Daedalus and his wife Laura make up the intriguing duo the Long Lost.
They both sing over feather-light bossa tunes and strike an atmosphere that’s both melancholy, and odd, transient joy.
Laura Darlington’s willowy vocals come to the fore on Amiss, a gentle and dreamy tune that’s perfect for lazy summer days.
Past Perfect sees a perfectly nice song with a flute and vocal intro drift lazily through. It’s gossamer light , shoegaze blurred and hazily lovely.
Ballroom Dance Club enters an updated Merchant Ivory film, where the heroine is delicate in her ballgown and waits in vain for someone to dance with. The singing is airy and distracted.
This record seems somewhat like an idealised vision of Englishness whatever that still means. It’s sad and more than a little gorgeous, like sipping tea in a house with a half-finished roof as a gentle spring rain falls.
Track Listing
1. The art of kissing
2. Amiss
3. Sibilance
4. Overmuch
5. Past perfect
6. Ballroom Dance Club
7. Siren song
8. Colour
9. Regrets only
10. Cat fancy
11. Woebegone
12. Finders keepers
13. Domestics
14. Awash
