AMBULANCE LTD’S eponymous 2005 debut album was a thing of heady beauty which drew on angularity, great songwriting and an occasional undertow of shoegaze-y guitars to create something familiar yet bold which was very much of the band’s own design. It’s a record which this writer still reaches for with regularity, so the idea of new material from this sublime NYC quartet is tempting indeed.
And, while “New English” could easily be dismissed as either a ‘stop-gap’ release or even a ‘rag-bag’ collection (bearing in mind its’ four new tunes are augmented by a further trio of live recordings and demos) the results make for engaging listening and a defiantly complete whole regardless of the sourcing.
Inevitably, it’s the quartet of new songs which will stir up most of the excitement. The title track kicks us off and it’s got a lovely, unhurried, folk-rock swing to it. The beat is an insistent, La’s-style shuffle and there’s loads of tricksy acoustic guitar interplay and a distinct lack of that double-edged ‘angularity’ that supposedly defines so many NYC bands. The ensuing “Arbuckle’s Swan Song” is equally balmy and mellow with sultry, downbeat harmonies. It’s just the right side of easy listening and proves Ambulance can still seduce us with a significant reduction in volume.
The EP’S middle ground is occupied by the demos and live recordings, but happily they’re stimulating enough in their own right. Recorded live in LA, their cover of Pink Floyd’s “Fearless” is craftily re-invented in their own image, while the 8-track home demos of “Sugar Pill” and album favourite “Heavy Lifting” maybe be acoustic and brittle, but the structures are already complete and the songs fully-formed and getting on for fabulous.
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We then get two new songs to take us to the fade. Of these, “Country Gentleman” proffers space and dreamy guitars and quickly sounds like quintessential Ambulance, while the closing “Straight A’s” is built around floaty, panned guitars ( a little akin to Clearlake’s “You Can’t Have Me” actually) and even when the drums batter in and take it higher around the two minute mark it remains a thing of lovely, unhurried beauty.
A graceful and accomplished EP, “New English” finds Ambulance Ltd offering us a course in intelligent guitar-based language the discerning out there will be only too glad to subscribe to for repeated study over the next few months and beyond.
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