The music of European Sun is built around the talky vocals of Steve Miles. These are smart tunes, delivered in a manner which recalls acts as disaparate as Wreckless Eric, The Auteurs, and Billy Bragg. The new record, When Britain Was Great covers a lot of lyrical territory, and this is moderately complex stuff, but it's a lot of fun to listen to too.
"Choice Paralysis" and "Going Viral" get the album off to a peppy start. The tracks work up a nervous examination of modern life, with Steve Miles taking stock of things via his yearning vocals. Joined here by Ian Button of Swansea Sound on drums, Rob Pursey of Heavenly, Swansea Sound, etc. on bass, and Elin Miles on backing vocals, Steve has the means to craft a rich sound on each cut. Tunes like "The Angels in the Clouds" take a listener back to a pre-C86 landscape in England, where arty bands like The Fall, The Monochrome Set, and The Blue Orchids could bash out brainy rock, amid political malaise in England. Steve Miles doesn't entirely make this a political record, but When Britain Was Great is clearly an album of politics, both personal and otherwise. The ironic title, and the accompanying single of the same name, stand as rejections of faux Cool Britannia. With Miles, these selections cover personal territory, while taking stock of how things were, and remain in Great Britain.
For all that makes When Britain Was Great a smart record, there's more that makes it appealing on other than intellectual levels; the emotion of "The Space She Left" is heartfelt and emotional, and the epic "School Report" is a clattering 17-minute ramble through post-punk forms. What's special here is that there's a sense that Steve Miles is willing to take some risks, and the chances he's taken here on this album have yielded one of this week's most intriguing offerings.
When Britain Was Great by European Sun is out now on Skep Wax.
[Photo: Skep Wax]