Nick Halliwell has been sitting on The Granite Shore's debut album for nearly half a decade. Or, more to the point, he's been sidelined by producing new music from the '80s English guitar-pop band The June Brides, playing guitar in The Distractions and releasing it all on his own label, Occultation. It's all well and good to have those other projects, of course, but Once More From The Top is a wonderfully luxuriant piece of English chamber-pop.
"Backstage At The Ballroom" is the album's six-minute centerpiece, a bouncing waltz bathed in crystalline guitars, synth strings and a rhythm section out of the Wrecking Crew. It plays with nostalgia bittersweetly, as Halliwell recalls days of record-industry past with an eminently catchy chorus: "You know all the words / At least you used to / You know how it goes / We wrote this for you." It's paired here with black-and-white footage edited from old variety shows, circus acts and musicals.
Once More From The Top is out in March on Occultation.
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