Lost Horizons - Lemon Jelly

...and distinctive moods and settings. Lost Horizons is very much an album with a "travelling" feel to it. "Ramblin' Man" and "Return to Patagonia" are the best tracks to illustrate this. One thing is certain; this is like nothing you have heard before.


THE ALBUM: THE TRACKS

There are eight tracks in all on the "Lost Horizons" album, which make up virtually an hour of music. ...
...AND PRICING

Lost Horizons is available to buy at most music retailers - HMV, Virgin etc. Of course you can also buy it online. Amazon have it currently priced at £8:97 which is a great price but doesn't include p&p.
In HMV and music shops, the price is around £12:99 although recently, in an HMV sale where I live I saw it at £9:99.


CONCLUSION

Overall, this is a wonderfully and beautifully ... more

INTRO

For my third Lemon Jelly review, I am reviewing their second album: "Lost Horizons". The first album (which wasn't an album per se) was a collection of 3 EP's and was entitled "Lemon Jelly KY". Their third album (newly released) is "'64 - '95". I have also written reviews for both of these albums so if you like what you read here, then it's worth taking a look.
Lemon Jelly themselves are worth a look into. The two clever chaps who make up the talented duo are Nick Franglen and Fred Deakin and the music they produce is something of an art. Lemon Jelly music is hard to define because it incorporates so many styles. Distinctive flavours of "Dance" and "chill out" hit you but many tracks are a cross between the two, with a mellow but exciting appeal. Of course some tracks are rocky, some are weird and others sound almost classical. Beats, riffs, vocals and instruments from all sorts of contradicting styles of music are brought together by Lemon Jelly to create tracks that will transport and inspire you.

THE ALBUM: THE COVER

The album cover (part of which is visible in the picture above) has two very appealing parts to it.
Firstly, the cover is very artistic and attractive. The front cover actually folds out into 3 sections and makes up a picture of a large number of fields which nestle against the side of a city. The city is to the far left and the fields stretch out to the right up to the coast which is in the far right section.
Now on the back, you have the same picture but at night. So all the city part is dark with all the lights from the buildings glowing and the light blue sky is replaced by a starry night sky with a large moon.
But the cover is actually subtly clever. Not noticable on first viewing, but after closer inspection, you discover that the night picture is the same picture but shifted left by one section. This means that on the night picture, you see a whole extra section of city, but one less section of the fields. This works best because the city is more attractive on the night picture with all the lights showing.

THE ALBUM: THE MUSIC

"Lost Horizons", the second Lemon Jelly album has won a "Mercury Best Album" award and has been labelled as one of HMV's recommended albums. It also got a lot of pats on the back in music magazines around the time of its release.
The music here is very ambient, chilling, quite dancey in many places and very mellowed. There are very few beats as such, but more gentle drumming sounds to accompany the tracks, which means that although the tracks are not quiet or without a good dance element to them, they are great to relax to also.
A vast array of instruments feature in "Lost Horizons" and are used very effectively with beats, tunes and vocals to create very exciting tunes and distinctive moods and settings. Lost Horizons is very much an album with a "travelling" feel to it. "Ramblin' Man" and "Return to Patagonia" are the best tracks to illustrate this. One thing is certain; this is like nothing you have heard before.

THE ALBUM: THE TRACKS

There are eight tracks in all on the "Lost Horizons" album, which make up virtually an hour of music. I have reviewed most of the tracks, but not all which should give a good impression of the album and leave something as a surprise.

ELEMENTS

The first track on the album and the intial thoughts induced are "Ooh.....different". This is a great track which builds up on its basic tune with a gentle beat and various sounds which create a mellow but dancey music experience. Then the "sing-along" like vocals make their attendance apparent and add to the building atmosphere of the track.
At various points during progress of the track we hear the elements which are earth, metal, water, wood and.......FIRE.
After the basic tune and vocals have played their part a new tune intrudes which although playing alone, does suit the first tune well. Later in the track, a harmonica joins in with another tune to build the sound further and make this into a really memorable track.
Over all, a very enjoyable and "impossible to dislike" track. That said, not everyone will be too mad about it as it certainly has a very distinct style.

RAMBLIN' MAN

The traveller has arrived! Many Lemon Jelly fans favour this track above all others on the album. Not so with me but this is nonetheless a fabulous music experience. As the gentle guitar plays at the beginning, the "Ramblin' man" explains that some people live in houses, others are cave dwellers but he.........he's a ramblin' man.
The guitar and flute feature in this track to make a very mellowed and chilled sound early on with a great tune pushing through consistently to form an ambience.
This is then interupted by the words "I'm a Ramblin' Man" and the basic beat drums on its own with a more sparse and pronounced base beat joining in. After this interlude, the track takes on a new tune and launches into itself proper!
This is where things get going. The new tune, instantly delightful, shares company with the "Ramblin' Man" himself who starts to list a number of locations. His oration slowly becomes faster as the music builds and the track veers towards a climax that must be adored by music fans of all walks. Other elements are thrown in and the tune continues. Not my absoloute favourite track but definitely a "must - listen"!

RETURN TO PATAGONIA

Arguably the best Lemon Jelly track of all time, this is my favourite of theirs with no competition! If I had a death wish for the last 10 minutes of my life, it would be to hear this track one last time.
The track starts with a fast pacey gentle rhythmic sound that is joined by a "percussion - like" beat to start off the track. After a brief lapse, this sound joins a tune in the background, which slowly rises and falls in accordance with alterations in the beat. This track is unique in that it adds in more then one tune at a time to build layers of sound on top of the fragile percussion skeleton. After the second tune, an instrument which sounds like a saxaphone joins in with its own tune and this is then adhered to by the initial tune which forms a sort of descant for it.
The first interlude is a gentle but a fast pacey sound that goes up and down and temporarily takes over from the saxaphone. Slowly the track builds more and more with yet another tune jumping in behind the scenes. The beat gets faster! The music slightly louder! But its all so subtle that the music actually consumes you.
Time for interlude number 2 - an almost irritating but appropriate sound that repeats itself an almost unforgivable number of times with the saxaphone doing a mad screech in the background at sparse points. Then a tuneful beat interjects, with fast drumming and vocals to suit.
Now the track launches back into its stride for the home stretch but one more surprise awaits! On top of the already well established compilation of sounds and tunes, a male choir joins in, singing at full belt with a brand new tune to bring the entire piece to life. Spectacular!
This track is an experience all its own and it grows on you more and more with each new listening. One for the LJ records (small pun intended).

NICE WEATHER FOR DUCKS

"All the ducks are swimming in the water..." is the tuneful chant that starts off this somewhat more mellowed track. This track has a great tune and makes excellent use of guitars with a gentle beat that fluctuates throughout.
The sound in this track builds and drops somewhat more unpredictably then most tracks but this adds to its appeal. The chant mentioned above plays a prominent part in the former stages of this track as it is accompanied by guitar, beat and tunes along with watery sound effects to make this track instantly likable.
The main section of the track which kicks in half way through is a new tune on top of the other sounds and instruments which builds the sound higher and more exciting.
The main interlude of the track sees trumpet sounds join in the fray and really brings a "feel good" factor to a very enjoyable experience. The tunes and sounds here are all very upbeat and mellowed. A joy to listen through from start to finish.

THE CURSE OF KA'ZAR

This track is a very acquired taste and you either love it or hate it. When I heard this track first time round, I thought it was absolutely awful. The thing is that this track is a whopping 9 minutes long and it's only when you reach the 4 minute mark, that the main tune (which is one to top all tunes) makes its debut appearance. From this point on, the track is highly tuneful, exciting, rhythmic and of true Lemon Jelly standard.
So what is the first 4 minutes all about? Well to be blunt, it's tripe. Absolute rubbish. It feels like Lemon Jelly have served up something they made in about 13 minutes and couldn't be bothered to do anything with. Don't get me wrong - the music isn't all that bad in itself, but how it manages to roll on for 4 minutes without someone committing suicide, I can't imagine.
The initial stage of this track is a basic beat that drums along consistently, with slight hints of repetitive percussion and a very monotonous almost tuneful sound that just about pushes through every now and then as if things might actually start to build up before starting at stage 1 again. Vocals come into play every now and then which are also painfully monotonous.
But then things suddenely improve. Once you get half way into this marathon of a track, a dramatic and euphoric tune bursts forth and although it intially only lasts a short time, it is follwed by an array of mellow and tuneful sounds that knock the socks off of some of the other tracks. The track then reverts back to its intial section (shudder) but fortunately only for a very short time before returning to the first dramatic tune which sees out the end of the track this time.
At this point, you can't go wrong - the music here is wonderful and exciting. Not dancey or even pacey, but dramatic and explosive. It builds higher and higher, providing great beats and riffs before winding down to an end.
Having heard this track several times, I would have to place it high simply because the disastrous start is excused by the flawless finish.

AVAILABILITY AND PRICING

Lost Horizons is available to buy at most music retailers - HMV, Virgin etc. Of course you can also buy it online. Amazon have it currently priced at £8:97 which is a great price but doesn't include p&p.
In HMV and music shops, the price is around £12:99 although recently, in an HMV sale where I live I saw it at £9:99.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this is a wonderfully and beautifully crafted album with so much to offer. Originality, pace, tunes.....it's all here and ready to burst into your life through your player! Sure, it isn't something you would be in the mood for all the time and it isnt really everyone's cup of tea but it is a picasso of the music world.
This is an album that grows on you more and more, the more you listen to it. With each new hearing, it just gets better and better. Lemon Jelly have remained true to a definable direction in music and most of theitr meterial is of equally high standard, but if I had to choose one of the three albums to keep hold of, this would be it.
I have also written reviews for both of the other 2 Lemon Jelly albums, both of which are masterieces in their own right and are worth a look. Thanks for reading and I hope this review is helpful to you.

Ciao.

 

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