The Lightning Seeds - Four Winds (2009)

Coming ten years after the last Lightning Seeds album, Tilt, and five years after Ian Broudie's first solo album, Tales Told, the comeback album Four Winds sees Ian Broudie combining the pared-down folk style of his solo album with the impressive and upbeat harmonies of his Lightning Seeds project. The usual full-on electronic arrangements are left to a minimum for the first time; in fact, it would have made perfect sense not to revert back to the Lightning Seeds name, also because this is again an album of personal reflection. The mood is full of nostalgia and longing for loves lost. It could even be called forlorn, but for the specific arrangements of those sentiments into the kind of songs that the Lightning Seeds always excelled at. Starting with the slow buildup of the five-minute title track, a distinct '60s atmosphere hovers throughout the album, an atmosphere quite reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac's wistful instrumental "Albatross." The key lyric "When you get those blues, there's nothing you can do" sets the stage for the mood of the album, but there's a certain upbeat dimension to most of the songs that follow. A strong melodic sense reminiscent of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and other classic '60s harmonizers abounds, even though the lyrics never let the mood get euphoric. Before the last song, one really feels sorry for Ian Broudie, but then he turns around and sort of qualifies it all with "I Still Feel the Same," a song about the inspiring times that made him want to do music in the first place, and the confidence and hope that more of that may lie in the future. All in all, Four Winds is an interesting first-time transferral of Lightning Seeds-type songs to a more "natural" musical environment (away from the predominance of synthesizers). It certainly works all right, and the songwriting talent shines through, but the downbeat mood keeps it all a bit sober compared to the sparkling electronics of the '90s Lightning Seeds.© Alan Severa /TiVo