Fed

Long available on an expensive Japanese import (which I bought) Plush's Fed is one of those maverick individual albums that seems to come from nowhere and then promptly disappears back to the perceived nowhere it actually did come from. Except in the case of Fed the lack of availability actually led to a groundswell of fervent fans wanting it released over here and now it is. Quite right too , it's a work of singular vision and stunning intensity .
Plush, for the uninitiated, is essentially one man-Chicago based singer song-writer Liam Hayes- a man who looks like he has wandered off the set of a seventies cop show with his impressive bouffant , aviator shades and predilection for orange/ brown ensembles. Fed was a troubled project from the start .The follow up to his stately 1998 debut "More You Becomes You" the albums recording costs became very prohibitive with Hayes label "Drag City" ditching the project when the cost started to spiral worryingly ..Hayes borrowed extensively to fund the album, engineer Steve Albini gave him credit, band and session musicians came and went and when the project eventually saw the light of day in 2002 it was because it had been abandoned and not finished and it's costs meant it was only released in Japan ( why this is I have no idea)
Is not surprising that Fed , or more accurately Hayes had engendered such a loyal following willing to part with big bucks to own his music( even an album of demo's for this album called "Underfed" was snapped up voraciously ) for this is by any standards visionary pop music shot through with a maverick spirit but with an auteurs attention to detail . It's a very singular album is Fed. Extreme baroque arrangements with billowing brass and fervid strings ( Fed was orchestrated by Tom Tom MMLXXXIV who ostensibly works in R & B and has worked for Earth Wind And Fire amongst others ) abound, but the music mines deep seams of soul with hints of jazz and blues as well as skewed pop . Hayes voice ( he wouldn't pass the audition stage of X Factor ) is a rather thin reedy affair which often cracks on the higher notes but this does not matter , indeed i would argue it makers the music more affecting , more viably real .
Plangent guitar chords usher in first track "Whose Blues" , a rather erratic song with jazz/rock undertones. The album even goes all out joyful pop with "Blown Away" "Greyhound Bus Station" which is almost glam rock with it's stomping arrangement ( though Hayes is far too subtle for Glam rock truth be told) and especially the merry horns on "So Blind" .Allied to the soulful vocal backing it's like some kind of modern Motown.
Fed does an about face with "No Education" which is an ingenious understated pop song like something off Gene Clark's peerless No Other: Remastered & Expanded where Hayes is "Just fine , I m alright" .His vocals are really stretched to their breaking point on this song which partly explains why it is so affecting .Great though the rest of Fed has been it s from this song on that the album really enters territory dripping with emotional clout and a far bleaker world view.
"Born Together" , "Unis" "Whose Blues Anyway" and most especially the desolate "What'll We Do "? and the forlorn low strings of "Having It All" are as devastating a suite of songs as on any album I can think of though rather perversely they also recall the heights of seventies soul ( Isaac Hayes is recalled vividly for this reviewer in "Having It All) The title track is an emollient instrumental for nearly four minutes before a beautifully salvatory vocal coda . The fragile "The Woods" ushers Fed out on redemptive warm strings.
Even that's not the final word though for a breezy instrumental addendum is tagged on somehow mirroring through the music how Fed has it's own epilogue thorough this tardy but none the less welcome re-release of sorts. Albums as good as Fed do not come around that often so it,s gratifying that one as good as Fed is now available to everyone . You should take advantage ...this is special .

I first heard Plush when he(they?) released the "Three Quarters Blind Eyes" EP. Immediately I loved that perfect slice of indie pop and had to search out this CD after reading an approving review in Uncut.

This album may not be immediate, but it surely grows on you.
"Fed" is an eclectic mix of Brian Wilson, Melody Nelson-era-Serge Gainsbourg, Bright Eyes,alternative country, Stax soul etc, yet it remains a highly personal and original record.
Even if "Fed" is heavily orchestrated at times, it has a warmth and an intimacy that shines through.

I can't stop playing this, and it's certainly a shame that it
remains unreleased in both the US and in Europe.However, "Fed" is worth the high price that this Japanese import has.

Buy, listen and love!

The only criticism I have of Liam Hayes is that his output is less than prolific! However, that aside, the wait is generally worth its weight!
The guy's a spellcaster of the highest order... weaving melodic magic with incredible finesse.
I first picked up on Plush with the "Three Quarters Blind Eyes + 2" single and have been mesmerised ever since!
Hey... Do yourself a favour and purchase some Plush... It's rich, dreamy and soft to the touch!