Unless you're The Blue Nile, a gap of five years or more between albums rarely bodes well. Stereo MCS and The Stone Roses are among the best examples of bands whose careers nosedived after spending too long away from the public eye while – two decades on – the idea of Lee Mavers finally making a second 'official' La's album seems risible.
Admittedly, Kansas boys THE BELLES absence from the fray may not have been as noticeable within 'the machine' as the aforementioned bands, but for the discerning, it's been a long old wait since their marvellous debut album 'Omerta' enriched our lives in 2004. I'm assuming it's mostly been boring old finance and business issues which have delayed it, but the great news is that this long-awaited follow-up takes up exactly where 'Omerta' left off. It's crammed with terrific, under-stated tunes, scuffed harmonies and Christopher Tolle's world-weary observations and it's an absolute joy to behold.
Like its' predecessor, 'Time Flies...' was recorded in an organic and low-key way, primarily in a series of living rooms and bedrooms in Kansas City (on everything from a 4-track cassette recorded to 24-track digital) but if that suggests lo-fi copping out, then forget it, for while these 14 songs benefit from an inherent warmth and intimacy they are all fully-rounded and frequently hauntingly beautiful songs.
Although there's a natural introspection at work here, it doesn't mean The Belles can't rock with conviction either. Songs like the bracing title track, the thrilling 'Existence is Fragile' and 'Keep Me Away' with its' Crazy Horse-style riffs and dog-eared, Stones-esque “whoo hoo”s are all serious, yet celebratory examinations of the world around us, riddled with Tolle's older-than-his-years lyrical wisdom. It's not that he's trying to tackle 'issues' especially, yet he has a natural ability to make an observation like “this world is in decay/ and everybody looks away” ('Existence is Fragile') hit home in a way that one of Bono's sermons from the mount never could in a million years.
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Elsewhere, the spectre of Elliott Smith hovers gently over sparse, tip-toed acoustic ballads like 'Ghost In The Hallway' and the melancholy abstraction of 'Disarmed', whilst 'Scars' and the lovelorn 'Late Hours' spring from rustic, Country-tinged wells. There are a couple of wonderful surprises too, like the deceptively perky, Beatles-influenced swing of 'Misery Loves Industry' and -arguably my favourite track of all – the gorgeous dreamy swirl of the closing 'Clouds Over Stansted'. On this latter, gentle acoustic guitar, drummer Jake Cardwell's shakers and samples from airport tannoy systems conspire to brilliantly evoke the feeling of descending from a long-haul flight. “It's the kind of thing you only see in dreams,” observes Tolle as the band quietly dive in and make their presence felt. For all its' misery, it's still a beautiful world and The Belles capture the feeling of wonder of being alive in it to perfection here.
They've been away for such a long time we had right to wonder whether 'Time Flies When You're Losing Your Mind' would ever arrive. But now it's here, it gently strolls in and embraces us with the warmth and depth of feeling of an old friend and the time simply falls away. Like its' predecessor, it's one of those you'll return to again and again when you need some sanity in this crazy world and it will very quickly establish itself as one of your favourite albums of the year.
S-Curve Records official site
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