Happy Ending, the long-awaited album from Hifi Sean and David McAlmont, is officially out today.
I was so enthused by the run of singles that preceded that I subscribed to Last Night From Glasgow and purchased the double yellow vinyl edition of Happy Ending in December last year.
It ended up being my 2022 album of the year, even though it wasn't officially released. It's really that good.
A fifth single was released on 20th January, the aptly titled Beautiful. And if you ever wanted to see Hifi Sean on a beach, dressed up as a lobster, this is the video for you.
The digital EP also offers up a beautiful dub excursion of the song by Hifi Sean himself.
Happy Ending has it all: lyrics that sing of the wonder and the horror of the world around us; soaring, cinematic sweeps courtesy of an 80 piece Bollywood orchestra; perfectly sequenced beats and melodies that complement that incredible voice. Hifi Sean and David McAlmont's previous collaborations only hinted at what this album could achieve. It plays and sounds like a greatest hits compilation. It's really that good.
The album begins with the title track, which feels like a contemporary relation to Massive Attack's Safe From Harm, and opens with the line,
One day the wind will blow away this stubborn joke
It has to happen sometime
The album closes with Aurora (Parts 1 & 2) and the line,
Will you forever turn around and stage another day?
Over a dozen songs and just under an hour later, I'm reaching to drop that needle back on Side 1, Track 1 and start all over again.
I've posted about the previous singles All In The World, Maybe and The Skin I'm In, so for the sake of completeness, here's the video for the very first single, Bunker To Bunker, which came out all the way back in June 2020.
Happy Ending is still available on double vinyl from Last Night From Glasgow. You can buy the CD (signed by Sean and David) and digital versions from the Plastique Recordings Bandcamp page. And it's Bandcamp Friday today so it's a win-win.
If all of that isn't incentive enough, Sean and David have also provided a beautifully created lyric booklet as a free download. So buy the album, pore over the lyrics and set yourself up for a premiere on Tim's Listening Party tonight at 9.00pm (UK). It's really that good.
2023 album of the year? Happy Ending is the one to beat.
It is very good, been enjoying it since my vinyl copy arrived last year.
ReplyDeleteIt's a physical work of beauty too, Adam.
DeleteAfter following Tim's Twitter Listening Party for Happy Ending last night, I realised that for the digital/CD editions, they've replaced Bunker To Bunker with Real Thoughts In Real Time. Doesn't diminish the album in any way, but interesting.
Didn't know that about the CD version.........
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonderful listen.....and being part of LNFG, I got my vinyl copy in Sep 2022 but with a quiet request that I didn't make too much noise until the official Feb 2023 release date. But I couldn't stop myself sneaking a track into one of the monthly mixes at The Vinyl Villain, nor from naming it my 'Record of the Year' for 2022.
Great piece of writing K.
I ended up buying the signed CD via Hifi Sean's label on Bandcamp on Friday. The new track is great but having played the vinyl so often, and immersed myself in the album, the track listing with Bunker To Bunker is embedded as the 'definitive' version so it'll take some getting used to. Real Thoughts In Real Time is a cracking song though, as you might expect.
DeleteI belatedly released that the gorgeous digital booklet released to accompany the album contains lyrics to both songs so you can enjoy either track listing...