I’ve heard a couple of songs from this band that sound rather good. Looking on Wikipedia I see they have been around quite a while and have quite a few albums out, so I really would not know where to start exploring. Any recommendations?
To let you know where I am coming from, the recent song that piqued my interest was “Everything You See Tonight Is Different from itself”.
Yeah could someone put together one of those 12 track best ofs that worked well in the other thread…ta
They used to crop up in my old Last.fm stations a lot and I’ve got a track of their’s I really like on a Merge Records sampler so I’ll probably keep an eye on this thread
this is the track btw The Clientele - (I Want You) More Than Ever - YouTube
Strange Geometry is my favourite. Lots of people prefer Suburban Light, but strange geometry is the one I come back to the most.
Never really warmed to his vocals but Reflections After Jane is a lovely track, and some of his lyrics are excellent - particularly those in the spoken word piece ‘Losing Haringey’.
Absolutely love this (apologies for it being a lyric video):
Yeah that was the very first “song” of theirs that I heard. I’m not normally a fan of spoken word, but I rather enjoyed that one.
Just read the lyrics, reminded me of one of the more ‘honest’ posts you might see in the Social section from time to time!
Thanks to all who posted in this thread - plenty of stuff here to investigate, though I’m not sure it’s helped me much in knowing where to start! Maybe I should just take pot luck.
These guys set such a wonderful tone/mood - would love to get into them beyond the handful of tracks I know. Count me in.
I actually think you could start anywhere because they are tremendously consistent and have pretty much stayed unchanged in their sound since they started. There are some minor differences between their albums but I would say that if you like one you will like all of them (and vice versa of course).
Strange Geometry is my favourite, for what it’s worth, but all of their records are brilliant. There is also a really good compilation, Alone and Unreal, that gives a good overview
A little taste of them in their slightly more upbeat mode:
Good to know they sometimes go more upbeat. One thing I am wary of when discovering new bands is finding out that an album is such that I like all the songs individually but that they all sound very similar with not much variation in pace.
Here’s another (comparatively) upbeat one
I seem to be the only person who thinks God Save The Clientele is their finest work. It’s just gorgeous. I mean it’s got some of the rough edges of Strange Geometry/Suburban Light smoothed off which I guess people don’t like as much but I think it shows them at their peak.
I mean this is just… perfect, is it not? The Clientele - Somebody Changed - YouTube
This is a really nice performance:
I’ve now ordered Strange Geometry, but I have a feeling I might have to get their latest as well, because I heard that “Everything You See…” song again today, and fuck me it’s good.
Everything they’ve ever done is pretty much perfect (the same perfect, but who cares?)
In answer to your question. The Violet Hour was the album that first got them noticed, and it is one of my favourite records. Gorgeous from start to finish.
Listen to a 2002 album called Days We Found In The Sun by The Afternoons. Very good imo and very Clientele-esque including similar vocals, maybe a bit more on the bombastic side though.
