Prior to the two-day of the Glas-Goes Pop festival in July 2023 I hadn’t heard anything by The Luxembourg Signal. I was aware of their existence, and their pedigree in the world of indie-pop, thanks to many of their seven members having previously been involved with bands that had been part of the Sarah Records rota and/or had played with Trembling Blue Stars, a band very much brought to my attention by Comrade Colin.
The live set at the Debating Chamber of Glasgow University proved to be a hugely enjoyable one, and led to a visit to the merch stall afterwards where I was able to pick up a vinyl copy of The Long Now, the band’s third album, released in late 2020, a purchase which has turned out to be one of the best I’ve made over the past couple of years.
It’s a superb listen from start to finish. I’d go as far as to call it an indie-pop classic, with ten quality tunes packed into 35 minutes which fly by all too quickly. It’s one of those records that having got to the end of Side 2, it is irresistible not to flip it over and enjoy things all over again.
mp3: The Luxembourg Signal – 2:22
mp3: The Luxembourg Signal – Cut The Bridle
These are among the most instant of the songs, both of which are worthy of filling the floor at any indie disco. But The Luxembourg Signal, certainly judging by this album, are far from one-dimensional. Indeed, album opener I Never Want To Leave is a bit of a curveball as the guitars are quite minimal and the keyboards at the heart of the song are very light, almost ethereal. The guitars, for the most part, dominate the songs thereafter with the exception of Elevator Silence which can best be described as a synth ballad. There’s also tunes that recall the cinematic style which characterised the afore-mentioned Trembling Blue Stars:-
mp3: The Luxembourg Signal – When All That We Hold Decays
That’s the album’s closing song – and as I mentioned inevitably leads to it being flipped over and listened to again. At which point, I find myself changing my mind about which of the ten tracks I’d pick out as being the real standouts. OK…let’s have another that will at some point find its way onto one of the TVV monthly mixes at some point:-
mp3: The Luxembourg Signal – Take It Back
I’m willing to bet that, if there’s any of you out there who are already familiar with the album, you’ll be willing to make the case that the songs I haven’t featured or mentioned above are actually the pick of the bunch.
Very very very highly recommended.
JC
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 