What
is it about Lemon Jelly that has captured the imagination
of thousands of people in the past four years? With
three very limited EPs released on their own label,
Impotent Fury, between August 1998 and July 2000, Nick
Franglen and Fred Deakin caught some of the end-of-the-century
flavours by shaping simplistic chilled orchestrations
around ever more basic melodies. Signed to XL Recordings
shortly after the release of the third EP, the band
collected all three releases on one beautifully packaged
album, Lemonjelly.ky, allowing them to finally
reach a wider audience.
Too often associated with Air, with no good reason whatsoever,
Lemon Jelly have raised down-tempo dance music to an
art, purposely getting control over every last minute
detail, from the music of course to the promotional
material and artwork. Their music might have become
ubiquitous, being used on countless TV programs and
advertisement, but they remain singularly in the shadow
of their work.
The pair met a while back in North London and became
friends for a while before going their separate ways.
While Fred Deakin was spinning incongruous records around
London and Edinburgh and setting up his own graphic
design studio, Airside, Nick Franglen gave up a career
as a landscape gardener to become a studio programmer,
working with the likes of Hole, Pulp, Blur or Björk.
When they got reacquainted, it was time for them to
create their own version of dance music – that
is one you don’t need a dance floor for. Followed
the three aforementioned rare ten-inch singles Bath
EP, Yellow EP and Midnight EP,
together with a string of even rarer seven inches, which,
these days go for a fortune of Ebay.
Two years on and Lemon Jelly are finally releasing their
first proper album. Lost Horizon comes once
again in luxurious packaging, partly designed by Deakin.
The album, which clocks at precisely sixty minutes,
collects eight tracks built around the same concept
of dance music. Using a wide range of vocal samples
to give their gentle melodies a disconcerting twist,
Franglen and Deakin create the infectious soundtrack
for a late summer afternoon. If Lemonjelly.ky
appeared at times disjointed, Lost Horizon
was conceived as a full-length record, and therefore
is more coherent. The music themes follow a same path,
with luscious orchestrations developing over the length
of this record, evolving from one track to the next
almost imperceptibly. From the space odyssey of the
first single, Space Walk, to the amusing walk
in the park of Nice Weather For Ducks and the
sixties TV soundtrack influences on Return To Patagonia,
which revisits Homage To Patagonia from the
Yellow EP, Lemon Jelly’s tightly held
compositions reflects the sense of humour of the pair
and their creative line. Despite them drawing on clichés,
their music remains exceptionally evocative and fresh.
Elements, one of the strongest opening moments
heard on a record for a while, kicks in in perfect Lemon
Jelly style, developing from a mild guitar line into
a dramatic multi-layered extravaganza concluding with
an oboe drawing smoke circles above the main body of
the track. Other highlights include the brilliant Rumblin’
Man, described by the band as a tribute to Clarke
Gable, and the ambitious The Curse Of Ka’Zar,
with its smoky jazz-club atmosphere and sixties references.
With this first album, Lemon Jelly re-assert their place
as Britain’s coolest band. Their music is at once
familiar and disconcerting, simple yet elaborate, down-to-earth
yet evocative. Sometimes reminiscent of the ingenious
sonic formations of early Pink Floyd yet perfectly adapted
to today’s world, Lost Horizon deserves
to sit proudly amongst the cream of classic British
albums.
5/5 |
