Strictly limited to just 150 orange vinyl copies – one of which we want – is the (I assume to be) the debut single from our mutual friend. ’Truly Gone’ is I’ll admit a bit of a curio, not your straight in your face immediate slab of tuneage but rather more something that quietly lays deceptive seeds which hatch in your headspace forming hooks causing you to whistle its coda just when you least expect it thereupon urging you to revisit it for a repeat play. In terms of reference markers it posits itself somewhere between Ben Folds 5 and Hefner, indeed I’ll agree a strange union but it does take that subtle swing vibe from the former and that crushed and poignant warts n’ all what you see is what you get realism from the latter and wires the resulting brew with something that should find swooning appeal from admirers of The Monks Kitchen.
’Spare Me’ over on the flip has a gorgeous way of unraveling from its off centred soul funk tethering, its punctuated and angular motifs having us recalling a youthful Joe Jackson. All said its on their version of (I could be wrong here) Robert Johnson’s ‘Sweet Home Chicago’ that they really pick up the baton and blossom, seductively smoked, ragged and laid back these dudes kiss this delta blues cornerstone in a superbly cruise controlled prairie prowling purr.
