I have a thing about songs that are kind of gentle, lyrically rambling although they tell a story, wry and witty. ‘Party’ is one of those. It tells the story of DIY indie gigs in Wakefield; although it’s obviously applicable to the same sort of scene anywhere else, or even any time period.
Musically it’s this most fabulous mix of DIY and sophistication; with kind of retro sounding synths and these string bits that pop up now again. Over this Emily sings in a conversational way. There are references that place it in Wakefield; mentions of The Cribs and Georgia (from The State of Georgia/The Research).
And like all the best songs it has a personal slant mentioning Jamie’s (of mi mye) brother and his sister-in-law Judith who were at one of those ridiculously quiet gigs that somehow everyone talks about for years after, and a party where Jamie was trying to convince Emily (of mi mye) to go out with him.
It may sound simple but it has an emotional strength that comes from the truth of the stories that is unexpected. In this way – and forgive me for reminiscing here – that reminds me of a certain period of the Peel Show; when people were making intensely personal songs that were, and please forgive me for this, sweet and endearing.
But on another level you could describe this as modern folk; it puts history – both of a place at a certain time and the personal – into a musical form. It’s a way of passing that down to forthcoming generations; it’s oral history.
This is going to charm you, it’ll make you smile and it may remind you of times in your life or places you’ve lived in. It’s simply a musical joy, a lovely lovely thing.
