Tonight In Belfast

I wanna hold you up so high, you're gonna need a space suit

Trust me #65

Tonight In Belfast - Orbital, David Holmes and Mike Garry

I originally wrote about Belfast back in April 2021, but it has been nice to write about it again following the release of a new version involving David Holmes and the poet Mike Garry..

Belfast is one of the most blissful and sublime electronic songs that I am aware of. Warm synths, bubbling synths, funky cool beats (never overpowering) and a sample of soprano Emily Van Evera performing O Euchari are all blended together to create something truly magical. 

And, oh, what about those heavenly chords that have helped thousands of dancers and ravers put their hands in the air over the years?! Swoon!

The layers of the song are utterly gorgeous and the way things slow down to sheer bliss towards the end is like ecstasy on record. Belfast is spine tinglingly incredible. It gives me all the feels.

David Holmes booked Orbital to play the Art College in Belfast after falling for their debut single Chime. The Hartnoll brothers left a demo tape of a new song which they subsequently named Belfast after enjoying themselves so much in the city.

Many years later, Orbital invited their old friend David Holmes to remix Belfast for their hits/compilation album 30 Something to mark 3 decades since their debut single.

Holmes treats it with the tender love and care you would imagine, stretching it out to 12-minutes, allowing even more time to get lost in the synths, grooves and beats. I get tingles and rushes listening to this.

Is it just me, or do I hear Holmes hinting at Joy Divisions's Atmosphere at times? I can imagine this being mixed in perfectly.

Belfast is still inspiring and now the song has taken on another direction after DJ Helen suggested to the poet Mike Garry (who previously  came to my attention with his poem An Ode to Anthony H Wilson) that his poem Tonight would sit perfectly over Holmes remix.

Top suggestion! It fits like a glove!

Garry's Mancunian soul pours out over the top of Holmes and the Hartnoll brothers electronic magic, coming in just after 2-minutes with the opening verse.

Tonight, I just wanna paint pictures of you

Write poems and songs and novels, all about you

I wanna hold you up so high, you're gonna need a space suit

Mike (and DJ Helen) know when to let the music take hold, letting everything go at 3 minutes 45 seconds into sheer bliss before beats kick back in. Then when Garry comes back in a minute late, he sounds as lost in the music as I have been many, many times.

And we can build new mountains for us to climb is my favourite line. Garry sounds beautifully loved up (he originally wrote the poem to read at his wedding)

Tonight, you're gonna need a space suit

I wanna hold you up so high, you're gonna need a space suit

What a romantic genius! What a brilliant collaboration.

Enjoy!

Tonight In Belfast (official video)

Tonight In Belfast is added to my Trust Me playlist; search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify , or CLICK HERE 

Check below for all previous blogs in my Trust Me series.

Previous Trust Me blogs

1. Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton

1A. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells

2. I Am, I Said  by Neil Diamond

3. Where's The Playground Susie?   by Glen Campbell

4. If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lighfoot

5. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon

6. Gone With The Wind Is My Love by Rita and the Tiaras

7. In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans

8. The Music Box by Ruth Copeland

9. The Ship Song by Nick Cave

10. Sometimes by James

11. I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time

12. Didn't Know What I Was In For by Better Oblivion Community Centre

13. When My Boy Walks Down The Street by The Magnetic Fields

14. The Man Don't Give A F**k by Super Furry Animals

15. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun by Jeff Buckley and Liz Fraser

16. Are You Lookin' by The Tymes

17. A Real Hero by College & Electric Youth

18. Feelings Gone by Callum Easter

19. Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground

20. Did I Say by Teenage Fanclub

21. Don't Look Back by Teenage Fanclub

22. Your Love Is The Place Where I Come From by Teenage Fanclub

23. Belfast by Orbital

24. Clouds by The Jayhawks

25. Dreaming Of You by The Coral

26. Everlasting Love by Love Affair

27. Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke

28. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones

29. Shaky Ground by Sneeze

29. Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells

30. I Can Feel Your Love by Felice Taylor

31. The State We're In by The Chemical Brothers w/ Beth Orton

32. Sunshine After The Rain by Ellie Greenwich

33. Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem

34. Mondo 77 by Looper

35. Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton

36. Rat Trap by The Boomtown Rats

37. How High by The Charlatans

38. I Can't Let Go by Evie Sands

39. Pop Song 89 by R.E.M.

40. Summertime Clothes by Animal Collective

41. There She Goes by The Las

42. We're Going To Be Friends by White Stripes

43. Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo

44. Sister Rena by Lomond Campbell

45. Revolution by The Beatles

46. Lazarus by The Boo Radleys

47. Wrote For Luck by Happy Mondays

48. American Trilogy by The Delgados

49. Loser by Beck 

50. Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy

51. Comedy by Shack

52. Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven

53. Freakscene by Dinosaur Jr

54. Thank You For Being You by The Pastels

55. I Think I'm In Love by Spiritualized

56. Chestnut Mare by The Byrds

57. Cannonball by The Breeders

58. Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan

59. You Make Me Weak At The Knees by Electrelane

60. Lucky by Radiohead

61. Strange Currencies by R.E.M.

61. I Am The Cosmos by Chris Bell

62. Like A Ship (Without A Sail) by Pastor TL Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir

63. Nothing But A Heartache by The Flirtations

64. Made of Stone by The Stone Roses

Underworld - Barbara, Barbara - We Face A Shining Future

Last weekend I stayed up to watch Underworld headline the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury. They played a blinder and it brought back memories of catching them at the Barrowland Ballroom when the reception for Born Slippy was one of the best I have ever experienced, and also of catching them at Benicassim in 2005 when they came on around 3am!

Karl Hyde is 60 this year, if he isn't already - I can't find his exact date of birth, but he was born in 1957!!! He still has a cheeky boyish, mischievous grin, he still bounds around the stage with a seemingly never ending supply of energy. Maybe not quite as chemically induced as it once was!

I've been meaning to buy their latest album Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future for a while and the blissed out versions of Ova Nova combining with Nylon Strung from that album cemented my decision to go for it.

I posted online about the songs and my friend Stephen Watt replied to say that the album was a beauty and he also loved these songs. Stephen was also watching Glastonbury at the time.

Stephen is a poet/spoken word performer, so I expected a well written feature....I got one!

Enjoy!

Underworld – Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future

by Stephen Watt

The reunion of raw-boned, platinum-haired singer Karl Hyde with bespectacled producer Rick Smith at this year’s Glastonbury may have engendered a slight incredulity that the Underworld pair had anything fresh or intoxicating to offer modern day ravers. What a miscalculation that would prove to be as the Essex dance trailblazers have recently reunited to create Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future, a personal favourite record over the summer of 2016.

Lead single and album opener I Exhale is a glam-stomp, two-note rousing thumper. Upbeat and filled with Hyde’s celebrated diced lyrics, it withholds all the warmth which trance music permits its listener but moves into a synth-laden, hypnotic homage to krautrock. Even lines such as "Spangled top, leather jacket” appear to nod towards something more Germanic. The idiosyncratic groove of second track If Rah takes almost three minutes to find itself before bursting awake like a creature of the night snapping at the moon through Hyde’s repetitive chanting “Luna luna luna”. It is arguably the weakest track on the album but has its own charms once more through ambiguous lyricism which implies a sombre story being spun.    

The heavenly strings and ambient synths at the start of Low Burn conjures a glorious aftermath from the bones of the previous track’s disjointed effort. A haunting atmosphere floods the song in its entirety while the chain of Hyde’s lyrics “Time, the first time, blush, be bold, be beautiful, free” border on meditative, urging listeners to close their eyes and transport themselves towards more celestial plains. The curious Latino sounds which follow on Santiago Cuatro continue the dreamscapes which Underworld have crafted on BBWFASF. Cradle songs are not atypical of Hyde and Smith but this is a welcome prompt to remind listeners that the band’s love for experimentation will occasionally take them on journeys unexpected, but regularly enjoyed. This leads into the mid-tempo rhythms of Motorhome and its unquestionable nod to The Who’s Baba O’Riley. Sparse lyrics and a straightforward beat suggest that there is not much meat to chew over, but a delectable bass riff and piano interlude make this a fascinating, if a little abstruse, track on the record.

As the afore-mentioned Glastonbury appearance alluded, there were some true gems from the album waiting to be found and none more-so than the final two tracks on BBWFASF. Ova Nova is submerged in glorious, beatific harmonies sung in a higher octave than most of the record. Backed by the pair’s daughters Esme Smith and Tyler Hyde makes it a connecting, dewy-eyed number which reaffirms that, like the album title, the future is very much at the axis of the entire record. The gentle dance-beat may not be to all Underworld fans liking but shades of 2010 record Barking lead single Scribble continues the upward spiral which the band have taken in the latter part of their career. However, it is final track Nylon Strung which steals the show and showcases exactly what a special band Underworld can be. The vulnerable line “Open me up, I want to hold you, laughing” is at the centre of a slow but euphoric dance-beat which demands every ounce of love from its listener, again aided by the daughters of Hyde and Smith. This could well be the finest song produced by the band this side of the millennium, and its bittersweet paean flits perfectly between contemporary dance music lovers and veterans of the scene more accustomed to listening from the comfort of their own homes.     

It is difficult to believe that both Smith and Hyde are now around the 60yrs-old range, displaying a real knack for connecting with all ages and tastes in music. At seven tracks long, the album does not overstay its welcome. It revisits you, on the Monday morning trains – the after-work gym workouts – the last smoke of the day – the sodden bus shelters in which we wait, and makes everything just right again.