While everyone was going mad for Oasis, I was baffled that they weren’t losing their minds about ‘In The Meantime’ by Spacehog. I mention this for the simple reason that I was reminded of Royston Langdon’s yellow-tinged sunglasses by those worn by Sally-Ann Parker in the video for Silverlake’s new single ‘Tower of Sunshine’, which is released on 25th April.
The Spacehog/Silverlake comparison is more than flippantly sartorial. Both aforementioned tracks are built on brilliant bass. ‘Tower of Sunshine’ contains the lyric “Angular thoughts crash around in my head”, which may be an allusion to Silverlake’s post-punk beginnings. If Gang of Four had tried to match George Clinton’s 80s output, they might have conjured something as thrillingly funky as ‘Tower of Sunshine’.
“Switch on my tower of sunshine / When super-villains come my way” is a rather beautiful self-esteem enhancing mantra. One to say to ourselves in the mirror in the morning, or as we pace the hazard-ridden streets – preferably while ‘Tower of Sunshine’ is beaming itself into our ears. However, if you decide to multi-task in this manner, be prepared for the mockery of normal villains, as the disco violins in tandem with that bass will have you strutting like Prince in his pomp. Try to ignore the culturally-starved, art-avoiding slating haters – switch on your tower of sunshine instead.
‘Tower of Sunshine’ is out now on Bandcamp
By: Neil Laurenson