Twin Shadow - Forget (4AD)
3/5
By: Stephen Maughan
Ever tried tuning into Absolute 80's radio station for a long weekend? I was bored enough to do so this one just past, and made the mistake of putting Twin Shadow on first thing on Monday morning. My mind rattled through the bands I'd heard in the previous few days. Duran Duran? Check. Depeche Mode? Check. Bryan Ferry? Check. The Smiths? Check. Echo and the Bunnymen? Check. Twin Shadow? Check. Sad love songs? Check...
Twin Shadow is the product of Brooklyn based George Lewis Jr., and he obviously likes the past - Forget is a nostalgic album about a time that wasn't quite as good as the idea of the time. In the same way, a film like 80's classic The Breakfast Club is about detached, but ultra-cool teenagers hanging out during school detention. Yet go back to that time, and it was frankly boring - you never had the courage to talk to the pretty quiet girl who sat at the back. Twin Shadow explores the theme and idea of love in minute detail, from the exotic dizziness of a high school dance ('When We're Dancing') to the poetic delusion of love ('Forget'). “The boy who sits across from me, just turns his head and doesn't see until it's over” Lewis, Jr. sings on 'I Can't Wait', one of the highlights on this debut release.
Lewis, Jr. knows how to ape a synth-classic, with buckets of electric strings, organ, piano, and brass along with a snappy drum machine, enhanced with the quite brilliant production of Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor. It's a contagious, sparkling record, despite the subject matter (“I don't wanna believe or be in love”) and a testimony to the talent of Mr. Lewis Jr. that he can make a tribute record to another era by bringing in such , if not modern, certainly exciting mannerisms. A lot comes down not just to Taylor’s production, but the clever lyrics and smooth voice of Lewis Jr.'s that fits this style perfectly – a touch Simon Le Bon, a touch Morrissey, and a little Bryan Ferry. With a voice like that, you don't have many options but to create a New Wave 80's dancefloor record.
Twin Shadow has birthed something innocent and unpretentious in these subtle love songs, and for that he deserves a lot of credit. Anyone who fell for the sophistication of Roxy Music's “love album” Avalon will appreciate the subtle approach here. This isn’t quite the masterpiece of Avalon, but it's in the right direction. Where that record felt very current at the time, Forget feels too dated to feel of the moment in 2010.
Which, of course, is the whole idea... but one does wonder how long George Lewis Jr. raided the second hand record shops of Brooklyn for dusted New Wave classics for inspiration. Still, better that than the Stock Aitken Waterman “classics” of Jason Donovan and Sonia, right?
Artists in this article: Twin Shadow
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