This is the second volume of The Wedding Present's Locked Down & Stripped Back, recorded at home over zoom in 2021, these stripped back versions of the bands classics often allow the lyrics more room, they are a good collection of re-worked classics, under-appreciated Wedding Present nuggets, plus one new song. The remote line-up of The Wedding Present this time is David Gedge in separate locations with Jon Stewart, Melanie Howard, Terry DeCastro, Chris Hardwick, Nicholas Wellauer and special guests Amelia Fletcher and Peter Solowka.
The a-side opens with the stripped back version of Brassneck, the acoustic guitars jangling against the softly rumbling bass and drums, Dave Gedge's vocals are closer and more conversational than on the original as this song of betrayal and loss of trust unfolds.
No has a laid back and very calm feel to a song about consent as David wonders why you just didn't say No to begin with. Wondering why the other guy's razor is in the bathroom and what the implications are as he discusses the ins and outs of her life, while wondering where he fits in among the jangling guitars.
Careless asks that question, can you still be friends when you stop being lovers, both of you must change things and attitudes, but this is always easier to say than to do, this has some wistful backing vocals from Melanie Howard.
Nobody's Twisting Your Arm is a lovelorn duet with Amelia Fletcher, as it originally was, as they both show each other the door at the end of another romance, set to Peter Solowka's jangly accordion and guitars, hard to tell who's happier to be moving on.
What Have I Said Now? sees David yet again flirting with someone else, getting into trouble, as you'd expect him too, as this follows the Wedding Presents normal love gone awry trajectory, against the pretty guitars, with a building bassline he might finally listen to what's said to him.
Perfect Blue is sparse, slow ruminations about how he can't get you out of his head, even though she's not so sure. He asks all sorts of questions, as he wonders why she hasn't dumped him yet, as the strings and Melanie Howards backing vocals waft in, hopefully she can persuade him that coercive control is a bad idea, he must let her out of his sight.
The B-Side opens with Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft that is a stream of gentle invective flowing towards his ex's new bloke, who of course isn't the Adonis David clearly believes himself to be. Ah sweet jealousy The Wedding Presents main currency.
The one new song on the album That Would Only Happen In A Movie asks us to suspend our disbelief, don't give the plot away, as maybe this time everything goes to plan, they stay together forever, rather than ending in betrayal, mistrust disgust, or something else entirely, as we all like a good plot twist.
At The Edge Of The Sea has Melanie Howard on lead vocals as she sort of leads the reply for all the scorned women, or who scorn him, as she wonders how a kiss behaves, over the carefully picked guitar.
Blue Eyes keeps to the band's formula as he's singing about someone whose left him once more, as he still lusts after her Blue Eyes over hushed guitars, with a rather plaintive delivery with a certain amount of Pathos, as the strings and piano come to the fore.
Dare is pushing at the limits of each other's love and what you might do together or apart, this feels like it has an urgency and the more spoken word parts of the vocals almost sound like John Otway's love songs, I Dare to make that comparison. Love the strings on this.
The album closes with Octopussy, no not the theme to the film, but a very quiet hushed and pretty tune, with barely there vocals asking you to strip for him, as he declares his love for you, the joy that you are part of his family, but given the nature of The Wedding Present's songs I wonder for how long. Compared to hearing the fully electric versions of this song this is almost perfect for a slow dance at a wedding.
Find out more at www.theweddingpresent.co.uk https://www.hhbtm.com/product/the-wedding-present-locked-down-stripped-back-volume-two/ https://hhbtm.bandcamp.com/album/locked-down-and-stripped-back-vol-two
