Thursday 7 November 2013

In Cassidy's Care: Updates

'In Cassidy's Care' continues to pick up some glowing reviews.
I particularly like the florid translations of some of the Italian reviews...

“A triumph of lyricism. Dream pop with the grace of a butterfly. Touching, sincere, sensual, deep, brilliant, elegant and devoid of hyperbole, a triumph of noble songwriting and seldom reached perfection. If you only buy one disc this year, make it this one.” Onda Rock

“Another little masterpiece has been born. Truly outstanding. Thoughtful, intelligent, graceful and deeply moving music, with every rerun being as joyous as the first.”  9/10 AmericanaUK

“Jones and Cliffe make a formidable pair; crafting beautifully adult, thoughtful and melodic music where Jones' poetic lyrics are placed within gently memorable tunes and lovingly crafted arrangments.”  Elsewhere
“Far and away the most unfairly unsung musical wizards ever to emerge from this sceptered isle. Big on memorable tunes wrapped around honest-to-goodness emotionally involving lyrics.
Rating 95% ‘Album Choice’ HiFi News

“The music and its rich texture is simply stunning. Quite honestly I have not been moved by an album for such a long time “ 4.5 out of 5 Let’s Get Ready to Rock


“Tumblingly lovely; rather like being gently massaged by feathers.” NetRhythms
“A record of great heart. The duo orchestrate intensely personal emotions that you’ve possibly never endured. It is a wonderful thing indeed.” Roots and Branches

“An almost perfect album.” Suono.it
R2 magazine reviewed the album in their current issue (41)

“Masterpieces of subtlety and observation clothed in sumptuous, lush melodies. This is one of the great records of 2013. Buy it and fall in love.”  **** 
The same magazine (an excellent read btw) will feature an interview with me in the next edition (42) and then, in the new year we are to have a track on their 'Un-Herd' CD which comes free with every publication. 
We are currently wrangling over which ICC track to include:
Marcus: 'Sweet Nothing': "It's commercial and catchy"
Me: 'I Love You, Goodbye': "Lyrically it relates closely to Cassidy's story and is more reflective of our musical style"
Bazza: 'In Cassidy's Care'"It would put the album name 'In Cassidy's Care' into people's head and they would make the connection when they see the advert and hear the track. The intro with the horn, pizzicato strings and slidey guitar thing is really interesting - and I would bet there will be no other track on the CD with a similar musical mix. It also has a great middle 8 that really changes the feel and pace of the song and with the organ adds another (MM) musical landscape. The 'Jesus Christ Amelia' phrase is also deceptively catchy and sticks in the head. 'In Cassidy's Care' would be my choice. The opening to 'I Love You Goodbye' sounds great when it follows 'Sweet Nothing', but if it followed a similarly slow paced track on the compilation it could fail to have the impact you need. The hook that grabs me in this song is the 'I thought I was a dragon slayer' line, but it's 1min 20 secs into the song, so the listener may have skipped to the next track before they get that pleasure!
'Sweet Nothing' is great and would do the job, but it's probably the least representative of the album and the Miracle Mile sound. That's my view from a purely marketing angle"

You can alway rely on Bazza for a brief brief...
If you guys have any thoughts about the best track to choose, please feel free to chip in...
Meanwhile, here's the excellent ad that Bazza's just presented for the magazine:

10 comments:

  1. Trev, you should probably mention the track needs to be under 5 minutes long, so rules out the obvious contender 'Beach Songs' and almost half of the album. If only you didn't put so many extended guitar solos into your songs!! x

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    1. Ay, it's a good job you're not our drummer. There would be tom tom/gong work outs akimbo...

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  2. These things aren't really designed for repeated listens so a comp cd i would go for the catchiest chorus everytime.
    ... So any human heart gets my vote

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    1. Must be less than 5 minutes Dave so that precludes 'Any Human Heart'...

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  3. I've just completed a 'Best Of 2013' CD for a friend and 'In Cassidys Care' got my vote, just pipping 'I Love You, Goodbye'
    Phil
    Tel Aviv

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  4. Thanks Phil. It's a tricky one this. The wise money is on 'Sweet Nothing' although I've a sweet spot for 'I Love You, Goodbye'...

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  5. Barry & Phil are right. It has to be In Cassidy's Care. The opening 9 note phrase is SO catchy. Often the artist gets too close to the songs to make what would normally be a considered decision. The problem also being that the songs are rarely made as singles and are therefore not produced as such.

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  6. Good grief, what a tough choice. Great comments & rationalizing by all. "Any Human Heart" or "Park Bench" would be my first picks, however given the pesky time limitations...
    Bazza makes a smart point regarding the initial lack of immediacy of "I Love You Goodbye", but the lyric/title is alluring & universally relatable; combined with an extremely catchy chorus, bridge & unique finale... "I Love You Goodbye" gets my vote.

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  7. I'm with Marcus on this one, it has to be Sweet Nothing, which for me has the most immediate impact of all the songs and is the one that stayed with me after first listening. A brilliantly catchy chorus and superb musical arrangement.

    Mel A Sheffield

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  8. My immediate feeling would be for In Cassidy's Care. But if I think I'll possibly change my mind, and change it back, and change again...
    Love the ad! Must share.

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