The Clientele have always been autumnal and very English, and on their fourth album, Bonfires on the Heath, they may have created the most perfect, autumnal, English pop record imaginable. From beginning to end there is a crisp breeze that smells strongly of burning leaves and the fading memories of the revelry of the summer just passed, a feeling of melancholy and quiet but also a pastoral peacefulness that is very soothing. It's something the band has always been able to conjure up with just a few notes from Alasdair MacLean's guitar or just a few lines of his richly warm vocals, but here they seem to be at the very peak of their powers as a band. Perhaps it's the full integration of newest member, Mel Draisey, and her lovely backing vocals and multi-instrumental skills, maybe it's the incredibly precise and chamber-pop-perfect arrangements, or maybe it's just that the group has written its most cohesive batch of songs yet. Of course previous albums have had their share of great songs ("I Can't Seem to Make You Mine" from Strange Geometry, and "Bookshop Casanova" from God Save the Clientele), but this time out the balance of uptempo tracks (something they've continued to add to their repertoire with much success) like "I Wonder Who We Are" and "Share the Night," hazy midtempo strollers like "Never Anyone But You," and hushed ballads like the breathtaking title track, work like a magic spell, and the whole album rushes by dreamily like autumn itself. Unlike the season, which inevitable turns to the bitterness of winter, Bonfires on the Heath can be endlessly replayed. The warmth it conveys is immense, and along with the happiness it provides, the album also shows that the Clientele continue to be one of the best pop bands around in the 2000s.
This bittersweet, dreamy album takes all the band's strengths -- both haunting and sublime -- and amplifies them, making for their finest collection to date. And that's saying something.On record, the Clientele can create whole worlds with their music. From the grainy places of their early singles to the ghostly whisper of The Violet Hour, or from the parting clouds of Strange Geometry to the s...
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One of the most distinctive things about The Clientele's standout 2005 album, Strange Geometry, is the pristine production and the incredibly arranged melting together of instrumental variety, vocal precision, and maturity. This album can largely stand alone and hold its weight with just about anything released from 2005 to the present, and even if The [...]
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Photo by David Greenwald2007’s God Save The Clientele was a great record, but it didn’t shake things up much from the career peak of 2005’s Strange Geometry. “Harvest Time,” the second single from the band’s forthcoming Bonfires on the Heath, isn’t a new direction — just an expanded one. Surreal harmonies pan wide, guitar accents [...]
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This bittersweet, dreamy album takes all the band's strengths -- both haunting and sublime -- and amplifies them, making for their finest collection to date. And that's saying something.On record, the Clientele can create whole worlds with their music. From the grainy places of their early singles to the ghostly whisper of The Violet Hour, or from the parting clouds of Strange Geometry to the s...
More >
One of the most distinctive things about The Clientele's standout 2005 album, Strange Geometry, is the pristine production and the incredibly arranged melting together of instrumental variety, vocal precision, and maturity. This album can largely stand alone and hold its weight with just about anything released from 2005 to the present, and even if The [...]
More >
I imagine The Clientele as some sort of mystery band — the sort of music you hear drifting toward you on a lazy summer breeze in that just slightly magical time as the sun sets, before the moon rises. Dusk, many would say — although, clearly The Clientele would call it “the gloaming.” It's hard for me to imagine a few normal-looking dudes and one lady sitting around hashing out what kind o
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There are likely around thirty-two pithy ways of phrasing this news, but that doesn't change the fact that The Clientele's new album will be called Bonfires on the Heath. Nor will it shift the album's release date of October 6 via Merge Records.
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 I Wonder Who We Are |
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| 2 Bonfires on the Heath |
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| 3 Harvest Time |
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| 4 Never Anyone But You |
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| 5 Jennifer & Julia |
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| 6 Sketch |
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| 7 Tonight |
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| 8 Share the Night |
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| 9 I Know I'll See Your Face |
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| 10 Never Saw them before |
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| 11 Graven Wood |
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| 12 Walking in the Park |
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 "Bonfires on the Heath")
