‘Let England Shake’ is a record that ventures deep into the heart of darkness of war itself and its resonance throughout England’s past, present and future.
‘The English Riviera’ is a deep sea of ideas and imagination: a far-flung, limitless dreamworld full of romance, nostalgia, lovers’ tiffs and good old-fashioned shagging.
If all you can see is a tangle of influences then you’re standing too close to the picture, and when ‘Skying’’s visions come into focus, it not only reaffirms that ‘Primary Colours’ was far from a fluke, but that they could go so much further.
It’s this combination of unforced sonic gorgeousness and a refusal to settle for the obvious that puts Clark in a field of her own, and makes for a strange and wonderful record that shows no mercy in blowing your mind.
