At this point, any discussion of The Proclaimers is going to include a token mention of a few things, so let's get them out of the way right off the top. The band's new album (their ninth), Like Comedy, deserves better than trite or cliche discussion, so let's condense everything that everyone is going to say down to one easy block and get it out of the way, right off the top so we don't have to think about it twice.
Yes, reviews of every album The Proclaimers have released since 1993 have seen fit to mention “I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)” regardless of how much the band has grown artistically since then.
Now then, with all the “essential background” information a matter of public record, let's look at and judge Like Comedy on its own merits.
No matter what listeners might be expecting of The Proclaimers with Like Comedy, there's no chance they won't be surprised. The breaks from listeners expect as being the norm start at the beginning of the record too; “Whatever You've Got” sets a new standard straight away as brothers Craig and Charlie Reid stick more to complimenting each other's vocal melodies (rather than just doubling them), and let multi-instrumentalist Steve Evans fill out the mix with a lush but low key backdrop which focuses on piano and bass instead of the usual pop and rock song fare. The results are a surprisingly affecting song which concentrates more on trying to blow minds with composition and arrangement and succeeds without shoving any overt ambition into listeners' faces; this is a big song, but no one tries to make it seem like it was hard to make and that's what will hook listeners best about it.
After “Whatever You've Got” lets out, the surprises keep coming as The Proclaimers immediately trade all of their pop and rock instruments in for a concert hall string section as well as the natural reverb which implies having been recorded live at a concert hall for “Simple Things,” and then combining the dynamics of those first two songs together on “Spinning Around In The Air,” just to show those critics who wrote the Reid brothers off decades ago what stuff they're really made of. The results are absolutely beautiful and very illuminating; with an impressive attention paid to craft which seldom appears in the average pop record (and certainly never came up on either Sunshine On Leith or Hit The Highway – the two Proclaimers albums most people know), the previous image of The Proclaimers that was held tightly in the pop canon for decades gets completely upset.
The Reid brothers never look back as they continue pressing to prove their talent at writing very, very delicate and dramatically composed songs through the remainder of Like Comedy's run-time. On particular standout tracks like “After You're Gone,” “Women And Wine,” “Wherever You Roam” and “I Think That's What I Believe,” the brothers Reid betray a fairly spectacular vocal talent as they begin intertwining melodies which would normally be expected of classical or contemporary vocalists of the highest regard (like Celine Dion perhaps, of the members of the Wainwright family) and attach them to soaring instrumental passages that are regularly found on the books of orchestral composers, but seldom if ever show up anywhere in the pop paradigm. With each passing song, the Reid brothers successfully bury their previously presented image as pop troubadours and take on a new one as genuine artists of music; that the transition is so equally smooth and unlikely simply makes it all the more salubrious and satisfying to hear as it happens.
As “A Mix” fades out and lowers the curtain on Like Comedy, many listeners will discover that they've enjoyed this album from top to bottom because it challenged their impression of The Proclaimers and completely upended it without having to get really cheesy or gaudy in its process – Like Comedy just let fine music be its own best reward. That kind of success isn't unheard of, but it is certainly rare. That rarity will be the thing which has listeners coming back en masse at the announcement of a follow-up to this album; those exposed to Like Comedy will want to know what other surprises the brothers Reid have in store.
Artist:
www.proclaimers.co.uk/
www.myspace.com/theproclaimers
www.facebook.com/TheProclaimers
www.twitter.com/The_Proclaimers
Album:
Like Comedy will be released on April 9, 2013 via 429 Records. Pre-order it here on Amazon .
