Curse of Lono – 4am and Counting (Live at Toe Rag Studios)
Submarine Cat Records – 12 July 2019
With two successful, and critically acclaimed, albums already behind them; London-based Curse Of Lono have not only just completed an extensive European tour, but have delighted fans with a special Record Store Day 2019 album. In April, 4am And Counting was released exclusively as a limited edition, 180g translucent red vinyl. The album was recorded at the strictly analogue Toe-Rag Studio in Hackney (best known as the studio where The White Stripes recorded Grammy-award winning album Elephant), where a series of late night sessions were recorded live onto tape by producer Liam Watson. The result is an early retrospective that takes a mellow, stripped-back approach to a selection of songs from those first two albums. Curse Of Lono have announced that on July 12th, 4am And Counting will be released worldwide on CD, via Submarine Cat Records.
Tell Me About Your Love, from As I Fell, opens the new album with mellow keys and soft guitar. A soothing chorus of voices gives the refrain a warm strength in numbers that are immediately inviting. As guest guitarist BJ Cole joins in on dobro, that invitation becomes even more enticing. Although the gentle vocal of front-man Felix Bechtolsheimer will, inevitably, invite comparisons with Mark Knopfler (and a favourable comparison, at that) the initial soothing effect coupled with such a personal lyric sits very reassuringly somewhere between Cowboy Junkies and Fleet Foxes. It’s the kind of strong opening to an album that commands continued attention – and as 4am And Counting progresses, that attention is amply rewarded.
In 2015 Felix Bechtolsheimer and producer Oli Bayston brought together Curse Of Lono to perform and record songs that Felix had been working on since his earlier project, Hey Negrita, came to an end. The impressive debut album, Severed referenced a range of influences but remained steadfast in its individuality. It was followed last year by As I Fell, which saw Curse Of Lono firmly established as a performing/recording outfit, collaborating on new, equally impressive songs, where Bechtolsheimer continued to dig deep into personal experience and the band as a whole consolidated their mastery of wide-ranging sound crafted on alt-rock foundations. Continuing with the same line up of Felix Bechtolsheimer (guitars & vocals), Joe Hazell (lead guitars & vocals), Dani Ruiz Hernandez (keys & vocals), Charis Anderson (bass & vocals) and Neil Findlay (drums); the band continue to expand their outlook as well as their audience.
That continuing evolution is highlighted in Welcome Home, where the dark sense of abandon of its original outing on Severed is turned on its head and gives way to a rich and fulfilling mix of blues guitar, keyboards and Nick Reynold‘s harmonica. That same harmonica hypnotically wails its way through London Rain. The hushed menace that pervaded Bechtolsheimer’s vocal on Severed is allowed to float over the keys, drums and bass in these sessions, rather than scrape along the gravel. And that delicious strong Doors influence remains.
By contrast, there’s a thumping joy to Way To Mars, if there can be such a thing as dark joy; and BJ Cole’s pedal steel guitar adds quiet colours to contrast Bechtolsheimer’s enthusiastic vocal for the soft, country rock of Pick Up The Pieces. The single guitar for the solo as is sweet as it could possibly be. I’d Start A War For You enjoys a similarly soft, smoky elegance. Joe Hazell’s picked electric guitar has the power to send you places you might have forgotten about if, like me, you don’t listen to enough music from these particular roots. The effect is exactly as the band’s declared intention for the sessions – more laid back, with guitar solos emerging organically.
There’s one cover version on the album, and it’s very well chosen. For Goin’ Out West the soft thunder in Charis Anderson’s bass stays true to the Tom Waits original (one of Bechtolsheimer’s all-time favourite songs, I’ve heard), but in a far from a straight-forward cover the band seem to realise what Gomez, and others, have missed – that this song doesn’t have to be thrashed. It can be insinuated and remain just as entertaining. Blackout Fever enjoys a similarly deep and bassy approach, and that chorus of voices, somewhat subdued in the previous albums, shines through.
With an initial approach of little more than rhythm guitar and vocals, The Affair is still the same dark, troubling dream it was on As I Fell, just mellowed out somewhat. Valentine proves, though, that when major change is in the air, it’s just as welcome. Valentine is one of those songs that sounds so good on its first outing you almost never want it to change – until you hear this version. Paired rhythm guitars are quietly magnificent, and that distorted guitar solo has cleaned up to reassuringly bluesy. The song is just as menacing, just as dark, those wonderful lyrics couldn’t be anything but. This time, though, it’s delivered from a comfortably ageing sofa, rather than a darkened street corner.
Don’t Look Down provides an even more gentle close than it did on Severed, with the pace taken back just a notch, and Dani’s keyboards adding a convincing tone of regret.
Last year, with As I Fell, Curse of Lono proved that there doesn’t have to be such a thing as ‘that awkward second album’. 4am And Counting, in turn, proves just how effectively the band have carried forward the cohesiveness that was such an important aspect of that release. It takes more than a little nerve to record a third album that revisits songs from the first two. Even on the first listen, though, you soon stop trying to compare and start to hear these versions of the songs on their own merits – an effect that’s increased on subsequent visits. The songs are familiar – familiar enough for you to go through the whole “ah, this is my favourite… no, wait a minute, this one is…” routine, time and again. On 4am And Counting, Curse Of Lono deliver a series of assured and masterful live studio performances, for an outstanding album that can sit proudly alongside its two predecessors.
Curse of Lono Upcoming Dates
06 Jul – Elsloo, NL, Conincx Pop Festival
12 Jul – Silverstone, Under The Apple Tree at F1 Grand Prix
19 Jul – Wiltshire, Larmer Tree Festival
27 Jul – Policka, CZ, Colour Meeting Festival
09 Oct – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
10 Oct – Manchester, Band On The Wall
11 Oct – Liverpool, 81 Renshaw
12 Oct – Glasgow, The Blue Arrow Club
15 Oct – Winchester, The Railway
16 Oct – London, 100 Club
17 Oct – Newcastle, The Cluny
18 Oct – Oxford, Jericho
19 Oct – Bristol, Louisiana
https://www.curseoflonoband.com/