Since departing from The Auteurs, Luke Haines has made every effort to mix things up and carve a solo career as far away from his former band as possible. Kind of a difficult thing to do when you’re Luke Haines; his unique raspy tones identify him immediately. But it’s the contents of his head that have always set him apart from other artists, constantly coming up with new concepts for his albums and tackling subject matters from international terrorism and murder to woodland creatures. His last concept album, the electronic and mainly instrumental album ‘British Nuclear Bunkers’ threw fans by creating an album so totally out of character. But his last album ‘Smash the System’ was Haines’ most out there concept of all, by not having a concept at all. It was merely just a collection of songs. And it turned out to be one of the best albums of his career. The follow up album ‘Sometimes I Dream of Glue’ is another concept album, and it is out May 11th.
Forever the storyteller, the album consists of fourteen tales, mostly clocking in around the two minute mark. They centre around ‘Glue Town’, an unknown part of the world born of an accident where ten tonnes of an experimental solvent land someway short of its European destination. The some five hundred residents of Glue Town are all around a couple of inches tall and addicted to glue. Kind of like a really fucked up version of Lilliput. It’s the kind of concept that could only really come from one man. Haines’ gift for creating great dystopian fiction in the form of his multiple concept albums is what has kept him where he is. ‘SIDOG’ is potentially one of his more out-there ideas, but each song is a unique short story amongst the whole concept, and certainly makes for interesting listening.
Musically fans of The Auteurs’ classic albums from the nineties will be well and truly onboard with this collection of songs. Its use of strings and acoustic sounds are a flashback to ‘New Wave’ and ‘Now I’m a Cowboy’ and gives the song their unique sound that made us tracks like ‘Showgirl’ and ‘Lenny Valentino’ such memorable tracks from the era. But it’s the lyrics and the stories Haines has carved that give the album its edge, the total insanity of the theme making it unlike anything else he has produced in his long career, and certainly unlike anything else that anyone else is doing. Most tracks weigh in little over the two minute mark, just enough time to get in there, tell the next part of the tale and move on.
Without listening to the lyrics, you could easily mistake this album as a whimsical, breezy collection of songs, with classic and simple folk drums and gentle fruits. But look at it a little closer, and you’ll find this dark world from the depths of Haines’ mind. One thing you could never accuse him of being is predictable, and this album proves that fact over again.
The first track available for your listening pleasure is ‘Everybody’s Coming Together For The Summer.’ Check out the video. There’s some interesting images to help paint the picture.
