Whatever the reason, the emergence of a new Charlatans album is surely enough to get me out of my slumber. That and a nudge from the northern hemisphere!
After all the hyperbole of 'Madchester' and 'Britpop', and the corresponding miles of column inches it is reassuring that there has been one constant - The Charlatans.
Some might say that 'Modern Nature' is a return to form, harking back to the 'Sproston Green' era of the band. I disagree. The Charlatans never really lost their form, instead getting on quietly with making soulful, rounded albums.
It doesn't take long for 'Modern Nature' to reveal its class - a few beats into the opening track 'Talking In Tones' and it obvious this is going to be a stonker of an album. If we must hark back to the 1990s then this is every bit as good an opener as 'You're Not Very Well'. There, I said it!
'Modern Nature' is an album that has the sun at the centre of its focus; harmonious vocals, loops, house-esque piano riffs, funky organs and great guitars. If the lead single 'Come Home Baby', if there are such things as singles these days, wasn't enough to tempt you into the album then just try 'In the Tall Grass'. It's a funky soulful track and guaranteed to make you smile.
Equally 'Let The Good Times Never Be Ending' takes their 1990 sound as a blueprint and adds a modern pop sensibility.
By the time the penultimate track 'Trouble Understanding' flexes your speaker cones with its laid back groove and big piano riff you'll feel like you've got one foot in the past and the other firmly in the future. It's a fantastic feat that the band have pulled off where others have failed. Are you listening U2? Now, thought not.
I never imagined that, as a nineteen year old in 1990 po-go-ing in Middlesbrough Town Hall to this fledgling band from Cheshire, that I'd still be listening twenty five years later. Then again, maybe the band never imagined they'd make is this far either.
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