I knew that if I reviewed music long enough I would eventually run into new material from a group I’d previously discussed, so here you go. While the single is part of the album I originally let you in on, it’s been reworked to the extent one can call it a new release.
So just to bring you up to speed, back in April I took a listen to a Europop group called Latimer House, who earlier this year put out the full-length release “All The Rage.” Among the songs of the ten-track set was Birdcage Walk, which I described as having an “echoing chorus and cheerful keyboards.” Those elements remain on the newly-released single, but in condensed form as the original 4:36 running time was reduced to 3:12 by excising the last stanza and chorus, instead drawing the song to a close with a rather quick fade.
Now I’ve heard this technique with certain longer songs on various radio stations, and it always drives me nuts because I think of a song as a composition of a whole. On the other hand, when I discover a song that I like and have heard numerous times on the radio has a longer version that was butchered up for mass consumption by the decision of some nameless record executive, it’s like finding lost treasure. Back in the old days, the longer versions often ended up on the cutting room floor, but digital recording and ease of storage make it easier for many alternate versions of the same composition to exist: as one example, years ago I got a promo CD copy of a relatively obscure David Coverdale single called Slave, one which had both the radio version and the album version on it. The album version was only about 30 seconds longer but sounded a lot better to me, so why mess with a good thing?
It’s also a shame because the band released this single both in an electronic form and as a red translucent 7″ vinyl version. Understandably, the confines of old-fashioned record production dictate a time limit to songs, but the B-side of this single runs 4:34 so Birdcage Walk could have remained at its full length.
That B-side is a new song called Until Then, which impressed me as a song which successfully integrates a few of the elements of rap, funk, soul, and jazz, with funky riffs being punctuated by slow, horn-punctuated interludes which emit a smoky jazz feel. It may read like a mess, but these guys made it work as an enjoyable song – one that perhaps should have been the A-side. (Of course, there’s no law that says you always have to play the A-side first.)
I’m also told that Latimer House went into the studio for a few days at the end of July to begin work on a new full-length album for early 2015. So if it gets in my hands quickly enough you may hear about a third helping of Latimer House first, before a lot of others give a second helping. These songs are beginning to percolate on stateside radio, so 2015 has the potential to be a breakout year for Latimer House.
Just leave those songs full-length, guys.