Listen to the album:
Fabien Polair releases first album in 17 years
After a 17-year hiatus, the long-awaited Love, Loss & Side-Tales of Recovery, follow-up to 2008’s Crossroads, Middletown, is finally here.
The album opens with Momentum, where Polair sings, “Let’s talk about being late.” This raises the question of whether the 17-year gap constitutes lateness or a form of disappearance. The line “I need to keep looking after our family” from Strange Times suggests he has been focused on his personal life.
Much has changed for Polair since his London-based album in 2008. The sentiment of Settle Down from Crossroads, Middletown now seems prophetic, as he has found love, started a family, and relocated to the South of France.
While some may wonder about the lengthy interval before this release, Polair has not been entirely inactive, having released three singles with his SoftSuns side project.
Musically, Love, Loss & Side-Tales of Recovery resumes where Crossroads, Middletown left off. The opening track, Momentum, with its harmonica and pedal steel, echoes the Americana of Neil Young and the Jayhawks.
However, the ten-track LP also explores new sonic territory.
The album’s themes – love, loss, and recovery – are evident throughout.
Momentum explores disbelief and stubbornness, with an added intensity towards its crescendo.
Sweet Christmas Dream the album’s first single (released in November 2024), is an ode to new-found family life and love, featuring chimes and angelic choirs. As Polair suggests, the intervening 17 years have simply been “life”.
Diadems and Experiment transition from acoustic to electric guitars, culminating in noisy finales.
Diadems, with its 90s-influenced noisy pop (reminiscent of Ride), explores the theme of enduring friendship (“I have tidied up my stones, all that’s left is diadems”), a theme Polair has addressed since his early band UNaware.
Experiment begins with arpeggios and a bassline reminiscent of The Cure’s Pornography-era, before exploding into a Pixies-esque chorus of swirling bass and distorted guitars. Polair’s raw vocal delivery on the line “Life’s an experiment” conveys the pain and experiences that underlie his reflection on life’s winding paths and the pursuit of peace and comfort.
Nothing revisits the political commentary of 2006’s Circumstances of the Present World, this time with lyrics drawn directly from Trump’s quotes.
The quieter side of Polair is evident in songs like Little Weight and Strange Times.
Little Weight, with its haunting piano melody, evokes a US road trip along Route 281 while Strange Times and Desperate Hours, with their classical guitars, recall the work of Leonard Cohen and Kings of Convenience.
Sunshine, with its summery vibe, jangly ukulele, and bouncy riff, is a candid love song that expresses Polair’s newfound optimism (“I’ll keep that sunshine with me now, and for the rest of my life”).
Ultimately, Fabien Polair returns in strong form with one of his best albums, with renewed inspiration drawn from life’s lessons (“One day you fall, the next you float”) and a newfound serenity (“And I feel I’m finally home”), suggesting more music is on the horizon.