Morton Valence on the Moon

Morton Valence are a band from London that I think are brilliant which is a rare thing indeed - with the exception of the Kinks and the semi exception of Blur.  However they have just released a new album which is not quite what I expected, especially as the biography on their website mentions a third album called "Another Kind of Country - which we finished recording last year and is without doubt our finest work to date, due for release later this year". But what has been released is an album called Left which has an image of Stalin on the cover and it does not have any of the country leanings, variation or boldness of their last brilliant album Me and Home James.

That said it is great and like their other albums pretty un-categorizable but it does not really sound like the work of  band more of the two core members Robert "Hacker" Jessett and Anne Gilpin and I doubt it will lead to the wider audience that Me and Home James should have had. It is pretty subdued and lo-fi and is mostly reminiscent of  the quirky vignettes of Ray Davis from the late 60's and early 70's Kinks albums and The Return of Lola is in fact Lola but with a new set of lyrics and sung as a duet but without the chorus.

Therefore below is a playlist consisting of both albums starting with Me and Home James which I would say is very hard not to like and if you do then you will find there is a lot to love in the more subdued songs on Left. There is also the excellent debut album called  Bob & Veronica Ride Again. 

All three albums are also on Deezer with which you can now stream albums and playlists in the intended order for free on your smartphone as long as you are not in the currently Deezerless USA.