Sad Lovers & Giants: Where The Light Shines Through - 1981-2017, 5CD Box Set

RE-PRESS: CD ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 2017         

Formed in 1980, Watford band Sad Lovers & Giants carved a unique furrow through the 1980s independent music scene, creating music which was haunting, atmospheric, melodic and evocative and which somehow straddled post-punk, synth pop, psychedelia and indie.

Compiled, designed and curated by the band, WHERE THE LIGHT SHINES THROUGH is the first comprehensive anthology of the band’s recordings.

After singles on their own Last Movement label, they signed to Midnight Music, issuing two albums - Epic Garden Music (1982) and Feeding The Flame (1983) – before splitting. This period also witnessed a John Peel session and a live concert for Dutch Radio Hilversum (subsequently issued as Total Sound in 1986). All of these recordings appear here.

Sad Lovers & Giants returned with a revitalised line-up in 1987 – still fronted by ever-present vocalist Garce (Simon) Allard. New albums followed - The Mirror Test (1987), Headland (1990) and Treehouse Poetry (1991) - as the band found new audiences in the Netherlands, Spain and France.

When Midnight Music dissolved, so too did the band. But Sad Lovers & Giants reunited in the noughties, playing to loyal fans and recording a new album, Melting In The Fullness Of Time. Since then, Sad Lovers & Giants have stayed active, culminating in a short tour of North America in spring 2016, during which they were invited to showcase at the prestigious SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

WHERE THE LIGHT SHINES THROUGH spans the band’s entire career, with every recording of note, sleeve-notes by Garce and design by ex-member Simon Blanchard.

TRACKLISTING

DISC ONE

SINGLES

1. IMAGINATION
2. WHEN I SEE YOU
3. A LANDSLIDE
4. COLOURLESS DREAM
5. THINGS WE NEVER DID
6. LOST IN A MOMENT
7. THE TIGHTROPE TOUCH
8. MAN OF STRAW (7” Version)
9. SEVEN KINDS OF SIN
10. WHITE RUSSIANS
11. THE BEST FILM HE EVER MADE
12. HIMALAYA
13. HAPPINESS IS FRAGILE
14. ALICE ISN’T PLAYING
15. BEAUTY IS TRUTH
16. BIBLICAL CROWS
17. LIKE THIEVES

DISC TWO

THE FIRST LINE-UP

1. ECHOPLAY
2. CLOCKTOWER LODGE
3. CLINT
4. LOPE
5. CLOUD 9
6. ART (BY ME)
7. ALICE ISN’T PLAYING
8. FAR FROM THE SEA
9. COWBOYS
10. BIG TRACKS LITTLE TRACKS
11. AN ANOTHER DAY
12. SLEEP (IS FOR EVERYONE)
13. VENDETTA
14. CLOSE TO THE SEA
15. STRANGE ORCHARD
16. BURNING BEACHES
17. YOUR SKIN & MINE
18. IN FLUX

DISC THREE

THE SECOND LINE-UP – PART I

1. TAKE SEVEN
2. SEVEN KINDS OF SIN
3. THE GREEN YEARS
4. CUCKOOLAND
5. A MAP OF MY WORLD
6. RETURN TO CLOCKTOWER LODGE
7. WIRE LAWN
8. THE OUTSIDER
9. LIFE UNDER GLASS
10. SUMMER & SMOKE
11. HOUSE OF CLOUDS
12. GODLESS SOUL
13. LIKE THIEVES
14. ONE MAN’S HELL
15. RESTLESS
16. ALASKA

DISC FOUR

THE SECOND LINE-UP – PART II

1. IT’S SNOWING
2. MY HEART’S ON FIRE
3. TOY PLANES (IN A SOUTHERN SKY)
4. LIZARD KING
5. PARACHUTE OF LOVE
6. CHRISTMAS ON EASTER ISLAND
7. CRIMINALLY SANE
8. JUNGLE OF LIES
9. THE SKY IS A GLOVE
10. A DAUGHTER
11. GERMAN CARS
12. SUBMARINE GIRL
13. I’M NOT IN LOVE
14. LEARN
15. MELTING IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME
16. RED SKY
17. BLACK CROW

DISC FIVE

POT POURRI

1. 50:50
2. THE CHANGE
3. TAKE ME INSIDE
4. INTERLUDE
5. ECHOPLAY
6. A LANDSLIDE
7. SEX WITHOUT GRAVITY (John Peel Session)
8. THERE WAS NO TIME (John Peel Session)
9. CLINT (John Peel Session)
10. ALICE ISN’T PLAYING (John Peel Session)
11. 3 LINES
12. A REFLECTED DREAM
13. STILL RESTLESS
14. ECHOPLAY
15. THINGS WE NEVER DID
16. SLEEP (IS FOR EVERYONE)
17. A LANDSLIDE
18. COWBOYS
19. MAN OF STRAW
20. IMAGINATION
21. THINGS WE NEVER DID (2016 Remix)