I'm certain Paul wouldn't thank me
for using this picture of The Blue Nile.
He's the one at the bottom.
Whooaaaaaaa there. Matt arrives with a funny expression and eventually reveals that he's received the first mix from Eric, which is a radio mix of Pressure Suit. Maybe this is what it's like when your spouse goes on one of those extreme makeover shows and you don't see them for a month and then there's the big reveal moment when you discover she's been bonehacked into Liza Minelli, and you don't know whether to laugh or cry... It's not as bad as that, but it's certainly disconcerting.
Because this is a radio mix, it's hard to know what the parameters really are. Radio mixes are essentially single versions of the tracks, but since they probably won't actually be released as singles, their function is to get on as many radio playlists as possible. Columbia feel that their first three single choices are Outside, Pressure Suit and Rolls So Deep (which gives you some indication of how Rolls So Deep has come on lately), though they haven't decided which one is going to lead. Since they want to get the first one out as soon as possible, the plan is to start with the radio mixes, which are aimed at the largest possible range of radio formats and are therefore, of necessity, buffed up like an executive Lexus.
Pressure Suit certainly is shiny. And very Pop. The drums are, without doubt, motherfucking. He's made a few cuts, which is fair enough cos the full version is five minutes long, and he's added an instrumental theme in the later choruses where there isn't any singing going on, which is kind of OK, apart from he's used a sound that appears to be a synth-sitar.
There are some really nice things about it, like the way it breaks down to the drums, bass and vocal in the second verse, and the way all the swooshy sounds keep moving around. It's very strange to be so accustomed to our organic brown studio sound, and then hear this widescreen, hyper-real, musclebound version of it. It's not that it's bad - in some ways it's amazing - it just requires some brain-adjustment. My main response is 'he can't do that to Garden of Love or Glimmer, it'll just sound ridiculous'. I'm hopeful that this is the furthest extreme of shininess and the album as a whole will retain its browness.
But this is to distract from the main event of the day, which is our Special Guest, which is Paul Buchanan, best known as the singer of The Blue Nile. He's kindly agreed to come and do a bit of guest singing for us. I wish I could say I was a genuine fan of The Blue Nile, and an aficionado of several years standing, but I can't. Like many bands, I know of their reputation far more than their actual music. Matt had got into them after Still Life - I think Jacknife Lee had recommended them, and we happened to meet Paul in March 2005 when we both performed at the KCRW benefit gig in LA. He said some very nice things about our music (which is all you have to do if you want to be our friend), and it was obvious from his performance that he was the Real Thing, and he and Matt had stayed in touch since then.There's a bit in Garden of Love where the song has apparently finished, but then starts up again with a whole new bit. Matt's idea was that this part could introduce a different voice - it could be the other person in the song, or even the same person but from a different perspective. Naturally Paul occurred to him as a possible voice (although it could perhaps create an entirely different subtext), so he invited him to come and try it out. Paul, being a true gentleman, could not refuse. Unfortunately for me, I had a gig in the evening, so I had to leave before any of the singing began. Apparently it went very well.
