St Crispin's Got Our Backs
Who is this St Crispin? The patron saint of shoemakers you say? A little research later links the reference to a former asylum that overlooks the band’s hometown of Northampton. Press play and the sweeping intensity of the title track suddenly makes sense. The track is almost heaving with swooning melodies yet despite the bleak subject matter a distinct joyfulness swells throughout. Even the brooding, echoing atmospherics could have been recorded in the deserted corridors.
As song titles go, 'I’m Leaving You For Sweden' could not possibly sound any more twee if it was lovingly written down, laid in a box and delivered by a puppy. The song itself is the sonic equivalent of being stroked before bedtime with the duet between lead singer Paul Macefield and Kathryn Sian Williams flowing sweetly in tandem. With such epic soundscapes it comes as little surprise that they should record them in Scandinavia, if only for the inevitable Sigur Ros comparisons, or yet another strange location reference.