Clearlake
Clearlake are Brighton tunesmiths currently working on album #4. 'The mention of Clearlake might prompt memories of a time before Franz Ferdinand turned the world superfantastiche, but on their third album, Amber, these Sussex indie stalwarts are keen to prove they‚Äö?Ñ?¥re anything but yesterday‚Äö?Ñ?¥s men. 'No Kind Of Life' lights the touchpaper, a rush of heart-pounding melancholy embellished with sparking, flinty guitars, vocalist Jason Pegg intoning 'You rely on someone else to make you feel alright/As far as I‚Äö?Ñ?¥m concerned that‚Äö?Ñ?¥s no kind of life' with an urgency and determination that belies Clearlake‚Äö?Ñ?¥s fey reputation. But perhaps the most intriguing thing about Amber is just how hard it is to discern the influences that comprise the precise, artisan-crafted songs that lay within. The hooky 'Finally Free' is a curious synthesis of Blur‚Äö?Ñ?¥s tuneful angularity and trippy, parallel-dimension Merseybeat, while the hushed title track sees Pegg‚Äö?Ñ?¥s heartbroken vocal accompanied only by a sombre swoop of cello and the quiet chimes of a music box. Perhaps it‚Äö?Ñ?¥s easiest to forget all reference points and just immerse yourself in Clearlake‚Äö?Ñ?¥s spirit of outsider Englishness: take 'Neon', a passionate disavowal of corporate nightlife and high-street consumerism born along gutter-dredging rock riff and the squawk of blues harmonica.' - Amazon
CLEARLAKE GIGS AT CLUB FANDANGO