Despite a career spanning almost 25 years and some of the loveliest records ever to be dismissed as merely "rock"albums (boy, if ever there was a misnomer) that Mancunian maestro Vini Reilly is still known chiefly as either the sonic architect behind Morrissey's "Viva Hate" album or for his fragile health and reclusive nature continues to distress this reviewer.
This writer makes no bones of the fact that his life has been considerably enriched by previous DURUTTI COLUMN albums like "LC", "Vini Reilly" and "Rebellion", but immediately it's apparent that "Someone Else's Party" is undoubtedly right up there with any of these albums. In typically self-effacing fashion, Reilly himself has already described "S.E.P" as "the first album I've recorded that I actually think is worth putting out in the world," but thankfully there are a solid legion of us out here who think otherwise.
Nonetheless, "S.E.P" is unquestionably one of Reilly's best ever, and while it's sad to report that the illness and ultimate death of Vini's mother inform most of the tracks here, the significance of this knowledge only heightens your understanding of what is a beautiful, emotional album in its' own right.
Obviously, this subject matter ensures that tracks like the deeply touching "Requiem For My Mother" ("I'll miss you now, so many tears I will weep"), "Remember" and "Vigil" are incredibly poignant in their execution, but all of these are rendered with great dignity and stand among Reilly's finest work. Even the stark reality of "Somewhere" ("I told you in the airport there's only one flight left now") is couched in a surprisingly jaunty melody that leaves a residue of optimism rather than abject sorrow.
Musically, there's a feast to savour for Durutti heads old and new. Vini's always exquisite, echo-laden guitar is of course omnipresent ("Blue" and "Somebody's Party" will delight fans of "LC" and "Another Setting"), but as ever he's found satisfying new textures - from only an 8-track portastudio - to bounce his six-string wizardry off.
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Of course, Reilly's no stranger to technology. His glorious, organic guitar was duelling with drum machines, DMX and Emulators in the mid-80s (see albums like "Amigos Em Portugal" and "Without Mercy") and here he throws in a few magical curves. Witness "Spanish Lament", where Rebekah del Rio's delicious hymnal voice (sampled from "Mullholland Drive" of all places) spars transcendently with Vini's Les Paul; or the wonky electronica and sampled choir that grace the haunting "Vigil"; or the great "Woman", where Reilly almost does a Moby, feeding an infectious worksong vocal sample into a reggae-influenced electronic melting pot. Superb cross-pollinations one and all.
Reilly's own voice remains wispy and hesitant, though we've grown to love that over the years and his personal feelings and circumstances have inspired him to turn in his most impressive, involved lyrics to date here.Indeed, the very fact that the album's closing track ("Goodbye") ends with Vini's mum leaving an answerphone mesage telling him to call home shows just how much courage and bravery he must have summoned up to make "Someone Else's Party" work so beautifully.
Poignant and tender without ever wallowing in misery, "Someone Else's Party" is an enormously personal record that Vini Reilly obviously HAD to make. It's also a contender for a career best and - while one hopes happier circumstances inspire his next outing - this reviewer desperately wishes greater numbers will gatecrash this fabulous album right now. To say it's gorgeous is something of an understatement.
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