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The title track is one of those classic Almond songs like 'Melancholy Rose' or 'The Flesh is Willing'. It sounds like Almond starting to look back to the Cell-days; it would be a few years before he would play 'Say Hello,Wave Goodbye' again!...'These My Dreams Are Yours' is a gorgeous song- imagine if Spiritualized were any good & backed 'Scott 3'-Scott & you're near. This is a perfect soul song- as great as Jeff Buckleys' 'Everybody Here Wants You' or Prince's 'Adore'...'Bitter Sweet' is a little twee & commercial- but not as anondyne as 'Love Letter' and bridges the gap to the genius 'Only the Moment'. This is a fantastic song co-written with Annie Hogan- though the single version was better!...'Your Kisses Burn' was the final recording to feature Nico- a sinister duet that sounds like John Cale producing 'Eloise'...'The Frost Comes Tomorrow' is a divine song- Almond's vocals fantastically interprete this nostalgic-melancholy & the accordion sounds not unlike Tom Wait's circa 'Frank's Wild Years'...'The Very Last Pearl' is rather perky & a little throwaway- if charmingly arranged- one to play live methinks...'Tears Run Rings' was the great comeback single, the refrain "We've got to get together/before we fall apart" does that Proustian/'Speak, Memory' thing regarding a semi-naked person in my teenage bedroom. Nice to see some Morrissey-esque politics creeping in-"They're pulling down the old slums/to build the new".The non-Pitney duet version of 'Something's Gotten' is preferable. The original is still the best!..'The Sensualist' is a sublime number- the operatic backing vocals blow me away, after all these years...'She Took My Soul in Istanbul' is suitably overblown- imagine Maurice Jarre doing the soundtrack for an imaginary film of 'Justine' ...Finally 'Kept Boy' surfaces- lots of people I know hate this- but I think it has a certain charm. The late Agnes Bernelle is great & it is proof that Almond could do the Broadway/West End thing at the drop of a hat...This is my favourite Almond solo-album that has dated well & is as strong as the finest of his works before & after- such as 'Torch' or 'Divided Soul'. The fun we had?
Quite sensibly, as he and the rest of us have matured and moved on, whilst those classics songs are still being recorded by others, he made this gem of an album with "La Magia", who provide a female voice and instrumentation.
His soaring, dramatic vocals that evoke a lead violin of an orchestra, such is its beauty and range of emotion, finds perfect pitch alongside warm orchestral surges and lone trumpets. We were made aware of this era of Marc's career by that memorable Gene Pitney duet 'Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart", that was a big hit. Some tracks (She Took My Soul in Istanbul/Your Kisses Burn) veer, successfully & beautifully, toward eastern duets, with the mini booklet having lyrics as 'him' & 'her'.
I'm afraid to say that I've heard other recordings by Marc and they weren't to my taste, being horribly self indulgent and almost painful to hear. However, I would say, that with almost out exception, this is a tight, at times 60's sounding, lush extravaganza of pure, tidy pop songs, that all merit their place on this 13 track CD.
If you, like me, wondered what happened to Marc after Soft Cell and want an update/companion to that seminal Non Stop....I can recommend The Stars We Are most wholeheartedly.
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