This is a very welcome, super-quality compilation release; the Smoke Fairies, who were the first UK band to sign with Jack White’s Third Man Records label, have been releasing standalone singles alongside the cherry-picked single-worthy nuggets from their albums for over a decade now, amassing a range of curio releases which cannot fail to excite collectors and fans, sneaking out some hidden gems alongside the more obvious (should be) hit singles. Splendid examples are the tracks ‘Gastown’ and ‘River Song,’ which originally appeared as a double A-side produced by and featuring White. That limited edition seven-inch single now changes hands for hundreds because, and here is the important bit, these recordings were not created as disposable fluff inferior to the main releases; they are essential, carefully crafted pop nuggets that have remained live fan favourites throughout.
It is not hard to understand what it is about the Smoke Fairies that fit the Third Man aesthetic. Jessica Davies and Katherine Blamire formed the band as a rock/pop duo with a blueprint of melodically driven pop songs, played with the analogue loving passion of the classic 45s era sufficiently revved up by crunchy electric guitars and atmospheric film noir spacey production. The aforementioned ‘Gastown’ is a great case in point, opening with a quiet grain Velvet Underground guitar figure, repetitive and disconcertingly rumbly, eventually blossoming into an entirely different swaying beast with the lines “it all comes down to how you love and how you don’t,” finally settling on a horn noise dunked in fuzziness. ‘River Song’ will wrong-foot you in the same way, jumping between instrumental and falsetto vocal segments; it is a dark, quiet storm of a track all the way that absolutely erupts towards the close. Back at the start, ‘Living With Ghosts,’ is now justifiably elevated to its rightful status as an album opener, those swampy sliding guitars conjuring up all manner of lake-dragging dramatic Americana imagery.
Of the more hook-laden highlights, ‘Sunshine’ is a real standout, the way it builds to a sumptuous “show me your love is real” repeated refrain, lovely stuff. The slide guitar riff on ‘Strange Moon Rising’ is impossible not to groove to, while ‘Let Me Know’ is the classic, infectious first tune from 2012’s ‘Blood Speaks’ album (not all singles here are non-albums, just to be clear). By the time we get to the circular, power-chord riffage of ‘Elevator’ it is evident that this band are still very much on the way up; over the course of the last decade, the Smoke Fairies’ five album releases have seen them grow in recognition as purveyors of fine, dark-edged, gothic yet honey dripping songs of today that hit with a real vintage sounding crunch. The power in the vocals of Davies and Blamire is less down to their harmoniousness and more the sheer power of their unity; they are both drawing from the same source at exactly the same moment, and the effect is sublime. This collection is a worthy one, rescuing as it does a top-drawer collection of tracks that absolutely should not be languishing in obscurity, presenting a set of instantly enjoyable back catalogue highlights. Pop music is, by its very definition, designed to be popular and sung by all; the Smoke Fairies have been making that kind of music a little too under the radar for far too long now. Get on the ripe-for-rediscovery express right here with this handily curated carriage of sleeper hits; this is your moment just as it surely deserves to be the Smoke Fairies.
Singles is Out Now (CD/LPx2): Amazon | Rough Trade | Norman Records