Search - Clientele :: Fading Summer

Fading "Light"

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 01/21/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Somewhere between "Suburban Light" and the recent "Violet Hour" was Clientele's "Fading Summer," a brief EP full of drowsy, hazy pop melodies that will either soothe you or have you snoring. It's a pretty little EP, but somehow it feels a bit bland beside their full-length albums.



It opens with the quietly catchy "An Hour Before the Light," a shimmery little song that sounds like a lullaby. It's followed up by the lackluster, stripped-down "Driving South," and the muted ballad "Bicycles," before finishing up with the bouncier "Saturday."



Imagine the Sea and Cake on a summery night, beside a lake covered in fog -- that's the feeling that "Fading Summer" offers listeners. It's a pretty listen, but it's way too short -- as soon as you're sinking into it, bam, you're done. And "Driving South" is a bit too smug-sounding for its own good.



The echoing guitars give the instrumentation an eerie, dreamy effect, and it definitely pegs as the most atmospheric guitarwork done in a long time. Alasdair MacLean's vocals are muted and distant, and his songs have little recognizable end or beginning. But don't worry -- you won't actually be listening to the words. He could be reading his grocery receipt, and would sound hypnotic and unintelligible.



While "Fading Summer" is a fairly good EP, a lackluster long and too-short length drag it down a bit. Even so, it's a charming listen."

Like slow-motion snow on a soft, sunny day

Jonathan J. Casey | the twin cities | 01/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...a little too much to pay for only four songs, nonetheless you will be treated to the ghost of John Lennon filtered through a magical tunnel of reverb...a sweet, lilting lullaby of sadness...dancing motes of light and gently falling ashes... a nice spot to while away a quarter of an hour or so. if you like nick drake, belle and sebastian, donovan, mr. lennon, low, or this mortal coil you might like the clientele, too."