'Clifftown' is an album based in and around a fictional seaside suburban town which closely resembles Southend-on-Sea. The cover art depicts the Olympia arcade on the seafront.
In common with so many English coastal locations, the town has seen better days and the twelve songs are steeped in nostalgia for the way things used to be.
In the blog on his website, the singer songwriter notes how once thriving theme parks are now obliterated or abandoned. Fan of the Band is based around memories of closed or boarded up pub rock venues where local bands like Dr Feelgood and Eddie and the Hot Rods once played.
Naming one track The Slow Decline is largely self-explanatory and makes references to groups of homeless people sleeping under the Arches that lead up to the cliff, With heavy irony, this area is known locally as the Essex Riviera.
MG Boulter’s gentle and affectionate tunes trace past lives, hidden histories and present day trends. The strong melodies, delicate vocals and impressionistic lyrics have some similarities with Paul Simon, especially on the track The Author Of All Things, She Speaks .
The record is produced by Andy Bell and features backing from musicians who have played in bands as diverse as Bellowhead and Spiritualized. It is the third full length album from the former singer and guitarist with country rock band ‘The Lucky Strikes’. Boulter has also played lap steel and mandolin on UK and US tours with the Simon Felice Group.
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The title track reflects on the sobering fact that an estimated 90% of the new generation of inhabitants aim to leave for the brighter lights of London at the earliest opportunity: “Their kids grow up to a lawnmower drone/ their kids grow old and move away from home.”
Not all the songs have a contemporary theme. A couple of the songs delve into local history . Simon of Sudbury is named after the Archbishop of Canterbury who was beheaded by the rebels the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381 and Pilate is inspired by carnivals from Victorian times.
However, with images of today's faded neon lights, lonely walks along the promenade or killing time is the town’s aquarium, the album is like an extended musical postcard from a town that time forgot and where the underlying message is ‘How I dearly wish I was not here’.
MG Boulter’s website
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