Short but Mighty

The Clientele are never about leaving fans without new music. In their nineteen-year career, they have hept them coming back for more in between releases, and this year is no exception. The London-based quartet are back with their latest “mini album” Minotaur. Leading man Alasdair MacLean brings the band in, with Mark Keen on drums, James Hornsey on bass and Mel Draisey on violin and keyboard,s for another round of marvelous, empirical folk-pop. Minotaur is everything you’d expect from The Clientele and more and the exceedingly loyal fan base surely won’t be disappointed.

On the heels of what was rumored to be their last full-length album, Bonfires of the Health, the eight track album boasts 30 minutes of what The Clientele do best: rediscovering inspiration from the sixties and making it their own. The traditional EP breaks allow the band to experiment with colorful, multifarious sounds while still holding down their trademark dreaminess.

The album kicks off with its title track, which carries poppy melodies that change on dime. “No. 33” is a wordless masterpiece with it’s majestically chimerical strings and “The Green Man” reigns in the band’s experimental side with its spoken poetic tone and extrinsic sound effects. “Jerry” promulgates with heavy guitar solos and rock streams while “As The World Rises and Falls” will probably delight Clientele fans but falls short in the realm of the unconventional style we’re used to from the band. Yet, all the while, Alasadairs breathy lyrics swing throughout the mini album, making it truly enjoyable.

The Clientele have found that sometimes having no rules, no formula, is exactly the right way to make something truly magnificent. A formula that over time has proven to be successful among themselves and their fans- Minotaur is another stunning example of just that.