Artist: Lola in Slacks
Album: Moon Moth

Postscript in Blue was one of the top 7”s of 2019 for me. A song with a soaring Scott Walker-esque chorus that can only be described as ‘epic’, an overused and almost always misused term that is genuinely true of this. No amount of alternative thesaurus searches could provide a better alternative – and I tried.

That single also kicks off one of my absolute album highlights from 2021. Moon Moth conjures all sorts of woozy and beautifully delirious visions of black and white smoke filled Paris bars and 1950s movie actors having back-lit, rain-soaked kisses. As this album is so drenched in Francophilia it could seem lazy to point to the obvious debts here to Gainsbourg, Piaff and Hardy but that would be missing the point. This is a Scottish album and like the very best music to come from Scotland, this uses its influences wisely to create something unique and of its own. This is not an homage. Obviously by being a Scottish independent band, we also have a huge Velvet Underground influence hard-wired in. What we end up with is a fragile, lush, gothic brew with an undercurrent of dark menace that if it was not as finely balanced as it is, might fall apart. Tough but delicate. The musicianship and production is supreme but cleverly utilises this edge to never feel contrived, something that a lesser group working with the same sources might do.

Above all, the stately songwriting and close mic-ed vocals are what most clearly shimmers through the spaces the music provides. It really is an excellent album, perhaps with its closest contemporary being the equally fine first Paul Quinn album. This is not the Paris of designer shops on the Champs Elysées, this is drinking Absinthe in Montmartre in an age of glamour that now only resides in cigarette-stained film posters.

Vinyl LP and Lossless DL from Last Night From Glasgow

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Artist: EnimaTek

Enimatek released their new single, Wake Up earlier in January.

It’s another Post-Punk gem from Jack Fagan, a Scottish singer-songwriter who has been getting a lot of strong praise recently from The Waterboys’ Mike Scott and BMX Bandits’ Duglas T Stewart.

It very much wears many of its influences on its sleeve – The Banshees, Cure, Joy Division – and that is no bad thing, especially when it’s done as well as this. Really solid writing, singing and playing that puts most contemporaries on major labels to shame.

I’d strongly suggest checking out Jack’s other releases which can be found here: EnimaTek YouTube Channel. Or listen here: Listening platforms

There are riches to be found in the small but very well curated selection available. Everything is of a high quality that explores a solid selection of the very best of the tapestry of ‘classic indie’ – strong melodies, interesting lyrics and a focused attention to quality control which suggests there is a lot of great material to look forward to.

Grant McPhee
@GrantMcPheeFilm