BUTTERFLY CHILD – Drunk on Beauty (MP3)
This is the very essence of luxuriant. I vaguely remember Joe Cassidy being hailed (especially by David Hemingway, one of the great lost Melody Maker writers) as one of those epic, expansive lush pop genii back when he was ensconsced in Belfast, as a man who could seduce us into a relaxed, celebratory pop heaven based around unaggressive, girlish values, back when Britpop’s aggressively male, laddish Rockism was at its most dominant. The idea attracted me, but the music passed me by, for the most part. Sean O’Hagan’s High Llamas (an easy comparison point) always seemed more attractive. They had concepts, visions, evocations, lyrics that placed ideas of sunshine and relaxation, and what happens when they fall, in my head, rather than simply vaguely describing a few concepts.
So now we meet again, and “Drunk on Beauty” is luxuriance-by-numbers, really. I still find the title appealing and the concept something I want to immerse myself in, but there’s something missing with this song. Somehow, it’s almost too luxurious and too MOR, almost redolent of an Oasis stadium-slower. Maybe Joe Cassidy’s relocation to Chicago has blunted his sense of romance and intoxication. Or maybe it’s just that he no longer has Northern Uproar to oppose.