each dirty letter

          

CD album CLAVE012      Released May 2010

"Each Dirty Letter is the best Calamateur album to date. It's just that good (I'm saying
that even when I'm not writing the press release).

With all the usual Calamateur sonic palette present (electronica, mellow acoustic guitar, aggressive electric guitar, drum loops, etc.) Each Dirty Letter sees these aural ingredients used far less as pure texture than on previous releases and far more in service to the songs. And such songs!

Not only that, but it's the one with the best title (Each Dirty Letter - genius!) and by far the best cover art. Thank you, Mr. Howie.

Calamateur, as you by now know, is the name under which musical polymath Andrew Howie records and performs. Undoubtedly the most personal songs he's released, Each Dirty Letter is an ideal place to start if you haven't tried Calamateur before, and a Must Have item for confirmed fans.

Although Each Dirty Letter is the fourth album length release in the increasingly huge Calamateur discography (including 2003's double length Son of Everyone EP) and the third official album (after 2004's The Old Fox of '45), and last year's Jesus is for Losers, it's the first to have been conceived and recorded as a cohesive whole. From the slyly mellow, acutely disturbing songs like opener "Change This World", and "Bad Friend" through the gorgeous, delicate duet with Jo Mango on "Retreat", rock numbers like "Testimony" and "Honesty", there are musical and lyrical themes that recur and tie the whole thing together, making it hard to skip around the record, or pick favourite
tracks, since it demands to be listened to as a whole.

Paradoxically by being more lyrically specific and personal on this album, the songs actually become more generally applicable, carry more moral weight and (significantly) pack a heftier emotional punch. Let's just say that as detailed as some of the lines in "Bad Friend" are,
the song is sure to remind you of some of your less admirable moments.

Each Dirty Letter also documents the most collaborative music Howie has been involved with since leaving the acclaimed, but underexposed Glasgow band OldSolar. Most Calamateur releases are solo recordings - Andrew writes, sings, plays, produces, mixes and masters everything himself. This time around though, he's eased off a little. As well as the previously
mentioned duet with Mango, Howie has ceded some control this time around. Production duties have mostly been in the hands of Iain Hutchison, and an excellent job he's done, too. The Calamateur live experience has (often) included keyboardist Mark Hilditch for a while now, and his welcome and talented presence is palpable on this recording."

By Richard Vernon

Tracklist:

1. Change This World
2. Banoffee
3. Retreat (with Jo Mango)
4. Testimony
5. Sad and Lonely World
6. Honestly
7. City is Mine
8. A Bad Friend
9. Touch My Skin
10. A Crumbling Empire