Painting It Red - Beautiful South (The) > Reviews > Back With A Vengeance, And Out To Kick Ass

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Many excellent songs, wonderful poetic lyrics, great voices
Disadvantages:	A couple of weaker songs, only seventeen tracks on mine !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Beautiful South have been around for many years now, having released their first album 'Welcome To...' in 1989. Fronted by the extremely talented singer/songwriter/producer, Paul Heaton - formerly of The Housemartins -, the band have had very little chart success for their singles, but their albums always sell well. Painting It Red is no exception.

Out of their eight albums, this one has the slickest finish and the most professional looking presentation. It looks extremely classy. The CD arrives in the usual case, but with a box over the top, which has ten squares cut out, to fit over the ‘paint palette’ effect on the CD cover. There is also a beautifully presented song words booklet, which is separate, nicely avoiding the need to take out the cover insert and inevitably lose it amongst the washing pile. Even the CD itself is a lovely matte silver, very tasteful.

There are three different versions of the album out – with 17, 19 and 20 tracks respectively. I bought the album for £12.99 from 101cd.com and it has only seventeen. (Typical!) Check on www.beautifulsouth.co.uk for further details of the various album differences.

We expect cynical lyrics and hard-hitting issues to be addressed by The Beautiful South. Previous albums have included themes of alcohol abuse, relationship break-ups and the evils of Thatcherism. The tone of each album is often a reflection of what has been happening in Paul Heaton’s personal life. Things seem to be looking up for him now then, as this has much more of a positive feel to it than Blue Is The Colour, for example.

My two favourite tracks are right at the start of the album and have already been released as singles – Closer Than Most and Just Checkin’. Both are quite fast and very catchy. Closer Than Most is Paul singing throughout, with this track rather reminiscent of some of The Housemartins’ songs. Its highest chart position was 22, last September. Just Checkin’ is Paul and Jacqui together, accompanied by a lovely beat which guarantees toe-tapping and head-nodding. Released with The River, it scraped to 59 in December.

Considering the poor chart positions attained by those first two tracks, it is sourly ironic that the next track is called Hit Parade and contains the lyrics “I never hit, It never hit, My hit parade.” It is slower, more melodic and quieter than the first two tracks and well illustrates the versatility of Paul Heaton’s voice. Nice enough, but not sparkling.

This is followed by Masculine Eclipse, a beautiful ballad featuring Paul and Jacqui again. Their voices complement each other’s so well, it will be interesting to see how they develop musically, now Jacqui has left. The lyrics of this one are very clever, as usual, dealing with heartbreak while using metaphors of sinking ships! Pretty song, rather swayable...

‘Til You Can’t Tuck It In increases the pace again, after a couple of slower tracks. This returns to an earlier theme of ageing, lamenting greying hair and increasing waistlines, similar to the wrinkle-counting of Prettiest Eyes in 1994. Gentle, clever and rather sad.

If We Crawl is track six and a song I have only heard properly once, because it contains a word I am phobic about! But my partner has played it many times out of my earshot and assures me it is the worst track on the album, so I’m not missing much.

Moving swiftly on, we have Tupperware Queen, another example of the poetic brilliance of the writers. This kind of group really do need a song words booklet, as they write wonderful stand-alone poems, with the music just enhancing their effectiveness. Jacqui sings this one, a rather moody piece but another that will stay in your mind in that irritatingly memorable way.

Half-Hearted Get (Is Second Best) is probably my least favourite track. It’s not particularly bad, but there’s just something about it which turns me off somewhat. Heaton’s voice is digitally distorted, which is one thing I find annoying, but it also seems rather heavy on the whining and wailing. It’s repetitive too. I admit to hitting fast-forward on this one.

This is followed by The River, the third released track so far. Paul singing lead vocals, lots of lyrics about water again, beautiful poetry, another slow one. This is such a pretty tune, but it does go on a bit after a while. Look out for a brass band too, not my favourite kind of music, but it fits this song well and is atmospheric.

Baby Please Go is faster and poppier – not that The Beautiful South really ‘do’ pop. This is the first time I have noticed Dave Hemingway taking lead vocals on this album. He has a lovely voice too, rather smoother than Paul Heaton’s, so the combination works very effectively.

You Can Call Me Leisure is another of my favourite tracks on the album, as it contains a wonderful plinky-plonky bit in the background! A lively, catchy bit of music is a stark contrast to the lyrics though, which begin with :
“You look a younger more beautiful version of death
But I’m scared to hold you close or smell your breath”

Final Spark is a realistic boy/girl look at marriage, a no holds barred view without any trace of rose-tinted spectacles. This harks back to A Little Time from 1990, but without such a bitter edge. In fact, the whole tone of the album is more of resignation, than bitterness. Paul and Jacqui share this song, and once again, clever lyrics and a nice little tune make this another highlight.

10,000 Feet is about love and the expectations of both genders – “some women need the proof in every chocolate, every flower”. Up-tempo, catchy, a rather lighter tone than the previous track. Another song that makes good use of Jacqui and Paul’s contrasting voices and another track that is one of the better ones – not that there is much wrong with the album, but we all have favourites…

Hot On The Heels Of Heartbreak has some twangs of country music in it, but with cutting, incisive lyrics. The first two lines remind me of John Prescott :
“If you could pull yourself away from that mess
Surely if you could pack a punch then you can pack a dress”
Gives a whole new slant on the election campaign…

Track fifteen - The Mediterranean – a child’s spelling test nightmare. Yes, more sea imagery, I wonder if Mr. Heaton has been spending a lot of time on a boat lately? Dave Hemingway takes lead vocals again on this one. It’s harmless enough, not worth fast-forwarding, but it just hasn’t grabbed me yet.

A Little Piece Of Advice is full of more deep poetical meandering which deserve to be set reading for A-level English Lit students. The tune starts off with what sounds like a xylophone, quite unusual for a contemporary album. Again, it’s pretty, with strong vocals by Jacqueline Abbott, but I’m not particularly fond of the tune. It’s okay though. I think the problem with the last few tracks on an album is that they don’t get played as much as the early ones, so they often suffer from under-exposure.

Finally on my album is Property Quiz. (Of course, you might have another two or three tracks on yours, you lucky people!) Paul sings lead vocals on this clever song, about moving out of a house, only to be replaced by the new man in his ex’s life. There are plenty of examples of black humour in this one, such as “Every weed in the garden’s mine, But the lawnmower’s his”. Brilliant. One of the best tracks too.

It usually takes me a few plays to get into a new album by The Beautiful South, but this one was different, I liked it straight away. It’s a nice mixture of slow and fast songs, with some little gems amongst them – even if the single-buying public disagree!