Shadows

by Teenage Fanclub

Overview

Since 2000's Howdy!, it seems as if Teenage Fanclub's three singer/songwriters -- guitarist Norman Blake, bassist Gerard Love, and guitarist Raymond McGinley -- are on track to deliver a new album every five years. For longtime fans who remember the first time they heard "The Concept" off the band's classic 1991 album Bandwagonesque, that level of output may seem a bit stingy, but when considering TFC's consistently high-quality songwriting, no true "Fannie" fan is likely to complain. In that sense, Teenage Fanclub's 2010 album Shadows is a sparkling and reflective follow-up to the band's stellar 2005 effort, Man-Made. Released on the band's own Pema imprint in the U.K. -- Merge in the U.S. -- Shadows picks up on the introspective, world-weary quality of Man-Made but also delivers a bit of the classic bright pop the band is known for. Where Man-Made found the band struggling with feeling like life was an illusion on the dogged "It's All in My Mind," here you get Love's breezy baroque pop statement of purpose "Sometimes I Don't Need to Believe in Anything," with its chorus of layered synth, strings, flutes, and sundry wind instruments. Similarly, Blake's leadoff single "Baby Lee" is a romantic '60s-styled folk-rocker that veritably shimmers with positive vibes. Elsewhere, Love's "Into the City" is a sunshine pop/country-rock love letter to urban days in the sun and McGinley's "Today Never Ends" is slow-burn psychedelic country-rock rumination on the past, the present, and a perfect day that never ends. If the day is as sun-drenched and relaxed as the songs on Shadows implies, then may it and Teenage Fanclub go on and on. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	08/05/2014
Label:	Merge
UPC:	0673855039213
Rank:	41359

Tracks

1. Sometimes I Don't Need to Believe in Anything
2. Baby Lee
3. The Fall
4. Into the City
5. Dark Clouds
6. The Past
7. Shock and Awe
8. When I Still Have Thee
9. Live With the Seasons
10. Sweet Days Waiting
11. The Back of My Mind
12. Today Never Ends

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Teenage Fanclub   Primary Artist
John McCusker   Strings
Euros Childs   Piano,Vocals
Tom Crossley   Flute

Technical Credits

Francis MacDonald   Group Member
Nick Brine   Mixing,Engineer
Raymond McGinley   Composer,Group Member
Gerard Love   Composer,Group Member
Steve Rooke   Mastering
David McGowan   Group Member
Dave Pye   Assistant Engineer
Norman Blake   Composer,Group Member
Toby Paterson   Artwork
Ziggy Campbell   Composer
Andy Bell   Assistant Engineer
Joanna Collinson-Scott   Composer