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What, then, have the band been up to since issuing their second full-length, Neptune, in early 2008? In rough order: enduring a line-up change, touring incessantly, being cooed over by the late Alexander McQueen and, eventually, recording Bruiser. By the standards of their previous two albums, unpolished garage blues located near 80s bands like The Gun Club or early Bad Seeds, these 12 songs are hi-fi and buffed. This is probably the result of production duties being handed to Andrew Scheps, an American more normally employed as engineer for genuine rock superstars. Rest assured, though, that there's still feedbacking squall and gothic clang, and The Duke Spirit still sound like The Duke Spirit.
This could be taken equally to suggest that they don't seem to be stretching themselves hugely on here. Several numbers (such as Procession, and the radio rock-ish Running Fire) are surface-level successful, in that their riffs have a rich timbre and pleasing arrangement, and Liela Moss belts out a catchy lyrical refrain until each song finishes and you can't recall much about it. This may be one reason why they've never accrued a breakout hit, or song recognisable beyond their fanbase.
Attempts to diverge, meanwhile, are successful: Villain is a borderline ballad which is sometimes stripped to naught but piano and vocals; and the Billy Corgan-worthy guitars on Bodies impress. But it's a shame that they share disc space with the likes of Sweet Bitter Sweet, where Moss' big-lunged and vaguely lustful vocals come off like a bloodless impersonation of PJ Harvey, a comparison that's often dogged her and the band. Assuming we can expect album number four no earlier than 2014, you do wonder quite how relevant The Duke Spirit will be by that point.
--Noel Gardner
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Customer Reviews
If you saw them on Jools... you'll know that they are rockin harder than ever.
They have not lost the melodic edge. Also there is great variety in the textures and tempos. Leila's voice is as smoky as ever.
Pity there was no special edition
Now all we need is Fields to top Everything Last Winter.
The first one i bought was CUTS ACROSS THE LAND,which i really liked,kind of rocky,but with an interesting twist that it's hard to put your finger on,then i bought this. Wow,they really are as good as i thought i heard on Jools. A really strong album,great rifs,lyrically intersting,with what i can only describe as a kind of haunting feel to it all. When it rocks,it really rocks,but the slower tracks are really cool too. I am very much a lover of music in general,and when i hear something i find of interest i look for the artist's material and sometimes i'm a little disappointed,this time however,i'm not.
Im loving SWEET BITTER BLUE,EVERYBODY'S UNDER YOUR SPELL and the grand finisher of HOMECOMING,but all of it impresses and no doubt i'll soon be loving everything they have to offer.
Don't you just love it when a newly heard band is as good as you hoped upon first listen,what a rush!
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