#37: What Are You Doing Fool?/Untitled Melody : Edwyn Collins (AED Records, AEDEC20, 2013)
Last week, I featured the March 2013 release of Understated, Edwyn Collins‘ eighth studio album, mentioning that, unusually, there was no physical single lifted from the album to aid with its promotion. However, just a month or so later, there was a vinyl 45 to which Edwyn’s name was attached:-
mp3: Edwyn Collins and The Heartbreaks – What Are You Doing Fool?
A 45 for Record Store Day 2013, becoming the second AED release for that event alongside a single by Vic Godard & The Subway Sect, which was mentioned in passing last week.
The Heartbreaks were a four-piece indie band from the seaside town of Morecambe in north-west England, formed in 2009 and comprising Matthew Whitehouse (vocals), Joseph Kondras (drums), Ryan Wallace (guitars) and Christopher Deakin (bass). Their first release was as part of a compilation EP on Fierce Panda Records, and very quickly they were being championed by the BBC Radio 6 DJ, Steve Lamacq. After further singles, and a series of high-profile support shows in large venues (in addition to their own headlining tours), their debut album Funtimes was released in May 2012, with one of its tracks, Remorseful, being produced by Edwyn and his sidekick Sebastian Lewsley.
The band had never hidden their admiration for Edwyn, often citing Orange Juice as a big influence on their development. Everyone clearly had got on well in the studio as it then led to Edwyn making the suggestion of them co-writing a new song, for release as a one-off single.
What Are You Doing Fool? is a decent enough song, one that does hark back a bit to Edwyn’s earlier material and quite different in sound to the material that had been recorded for Understated. Being a Record Store Day release, it was limited to a pressing of just 500, and being an RSD release, I steered clear of it. But a couple of years later, I found a second hand copy in a shop for £5. Whether it was taken there by an Edwyn fan who felt let down by the single, I’ll never know.
The b-side turned out to be a cover of an Orange Juice song, one that had been recorded for the debut album, You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever.
mp3: Edwyn Collins and The Heartbreaks – Untitled Melody
It’s a really nice take on things, and over the first half of the song, Matthew Whitehouse delivers a vocal that is different in style from Edwyn’s original back in 1982. The final 40 seconds of the song sees Edwyn come in on lead vocal, which proves to be rather lovely. I’m not unhappy to admit that I prefer it to the co-write.
The Heartbreaks would go on to release a second studio album, We May Yet Stand A Chance, in 2014, after which they called it a day.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 