Red Box - A South East London Garden 18/9/10
4/5
By: Tom Hocknell
It can be difficult to know why certain bands resonate, but the ones that do, particularly those during teenage years, stay with you for life. Red Box were one of those bands, and their recently re-released debut album, The Circle and the Square was a genuinely unique and seamless blend of synth pop, folk, and world rhythms. In 1985/6 they had two massive hits, ‘Lean on Me (ah-li-ayo)’ and ‘For America’, before the band evaporated following an equally fine second album Motive in 1990, which got lost in record company wrangling. Of course, it is those fondly remembered bands that you hope to return one day, to tap that magic once again. This is something well understood by the current reformation of every split band in musical history, and Red Box are the latest to have done exactly that.
Red Box began life on the evergreen independent label Cherry Red and have turned full circle by returning there with the release of their new album Plenty next month. It is a long time between records, with old partner Julian Close long since departed (on good terms), as lead singer/songwriter Simon Toulson-Clarke explains, “It took a while for it to all fall into place organically, and to have material we felt was worth recording. There was no sense of hurry.” And that is how it feels, with no active recruiting or advertising for new recruits, new members drifted in, as opposed to being drafted in, and there were also the more domestic concerns of family and nesting. “I spent an awful lot of time and money setting up a home studio, particularly in sound-proofing a drum booth, to protect the neighbours, only to discover the neighbour was a drummer. When his wife told me he was a drummer, my heart sank, people always know a drummer, but Derek (Adams) is a good drummer.” He is now part of the band as player and co-writer.
“To dip our feet back into playing live,” as Simon describes it, the band have fallen upon a unique way to reconnect with an audience. They are playing a series of gigs in people’s gardens (with their permission!) and the new material, songs about “being happy with what you’ve got” (‘Brighter Blue’) and others echoing the debut album’s sound (‘The Sign’), is well suited to such mannered surrounds. Not that they approach it with garden fete amateurism: it is a full set up with soundman (tonight stationed by the bird-table) who also adds trumpet to some songs. There are acoustic guitars, keyboards and a drum box, with only the bass lacking; not that it is particularly missed (sorry bass players).
So the surreal afternoon sight of people you once saw on Top of the Pops setting up and sound checking, while you make them tea and put away your washing, is an opportunity open to any Red Box fan who fancies asking. “I’m not sure who’s idea the garden tour was, it just seemed to happen,” explains Simon as he gaffer-tapes leads across the decking.
Later, in the darkness, candles and rugs across the lawn add to the drawing room atmosphere, as the small talk is hushed for a return of the band. The new album is well represented, with reasons for its long germination occasionally glimpsed, such as when Simon restarts ‘Plenty’ because the hi-hat isn’t right, “but no one else noticed,” is heckled, “but I did” he says, adding with a smile, “perhaps you can see why the album took so long now.”
The mature songs are perfectly balanced, heart-on-the-sleeve stuff, with Simon’s distinctive vocals particularly strong, falling somewhere between the blissed-out pop of the Beloved and the modern folk of Angus and Julia Stone. ‘For America’ works better slowed down, which strips it of accusations of novelty, and provokes some (less-knowledgeable) members of the gathering to finally clock which band they are seeing; some even asking if it is a cover version. The sound is immaculate and the band embrace the songs with confident experience. Paul Bond’s guitar playing provides several jaw dropping moments, although they most commonly arrive with the gentle harmonising of singer/songwriter Emily Maguire (somehow successfully filling in for the original ‘Lean on Me’s backing chorus of 250 people). Despite the lack of rehearsal for Motive’s highlight ‘New England’ (‘…is my home/but my heart is forever travelling’), she sends the proverbial neck hairs skyward.
With people weaving through the stage to reach the house between songs, and the bands’ cheerful joking and storytelling with the audience, this kind of gig could be the way forward. The bar is free and your Mum can ring to ask how it’s going, and although Red Box will have to play a lot of gardens to reach as many people as the album deserves, it returns live music to a new place, where perhaps it has always historically lived: at home.
All photographs copyright Heather Shuker
Artists in this article: Red Box
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