After Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy had decided that being a solo pop star wasn't for him , or as is more probably apt the other way round, he formed The Lilac Time-a deliberate attempt to escape the gaudy confines of mainstream pop and produce a more organic and soulful music.
Their eponymous debut album is one of those overlooked gems that litter pop history like smarties in a cess pit. (See also Win: "Uh Tears Baby", The Chills: "Submarine Bells", The Adventures: "Theodore and Friends") What's more Duffy achieved his aim of making a kind of music that retained the pulsating essence of great pop music-effervescent tunes, an overwrought grasp of tangible emotive power, a narcissists grasp of self- but did so with none of the artifice and commercial compromise that normally entails while also giving it a smoky folk tinged pastoral ambience that resembled XTC, s "Mummer" and most thrillingly was every bit as good.
Utilising traditional instrumentation including banjo and bouzouki these are wonderfully crafted songs with delicious subtle turns of phrase and delicately nuance melodies. "Black Velvet" luxuriates in a hypnotic arrangement and Duffy's vocals are properly smoothly lugubrious to match. "Return to Yesterday" is just that as it happens....sort of, with a brisk pop sensibility that recalls his former synth pop hey day but allied to swooning guitars and incremental harmonies. "Trumpets From Montparnasse" is that rarity, a worthwhile instrumental, with his sturdily plucked banjo notes carousel ling round. It has cropped up on more programmes and adverts than I care to mention so I won't bother. "You've Got to Love" is sheer glorious pop heaven , its hurdy gurdy rhythmic grace and glossy harmonics have hit written all over it, but of course it wasn't .Another one that got away.
Every track on this album is just terrific. It's an unabashed treat to listen to from beginning to end and for this re-release the end is further away than ever because it has nine extra tracks including alternative versions of "Black Velvet, " Return To Yesterday" and "You've Got To Love", none of which are as good as the originals but are still worth hearing. I've got to confess I'm not a massive fan of these extra track re-issues for the simple reason that once an album has become ingrained in your life and subconscious like for instance this one , then it somehow tarnishes it to subvert with those memories. It's quite perplexing to find your pavlovian expectations compounded when an album doesn't end where you are used to it ending. Having said that the extra tracks here are fine, though nothing is startlingly brilliant. Put against the quality of this album that would have been some achievement. This is a career highlight from Mr Duffy as far as I'm concerned. What time is it?.........It, s Lilac Time.