The Sprouts’ second album was a nigh-on inescapable soundtrack to student life on its release in 1985; Paddy McAloon was the pop poet of choice. More than 20 years on, his dissertations on love, loss and uncertainty are just as affecting, the intelligence of the lyrics matched by the sophistication of the chord structures and the musical arrangements.
When Love Breaks Down was the hit single (eventually, after a second reissue), and its naked honesty is typical of the album as a whole. McAloon approached romantic doubt from less obvious angles, especially on songs such as Appetite or Bonny, paid tribute to the recently deceased Marvin Gaye on When The Angels, and also gave voice to the loneliness of the long distance trucker on Faron Young.
In a refreshing twist on the usual deluxe edition catch-alls of B-sides, demos and live tracks, here the second disc comprises solo acoustic renditions of eight of the original songs, recorded last summer by a McAloon with an older, richer but never weary voice. Desire As has been reimagined as a brooding and sombre paean to heartbreak, which recalls the early records of Jimmy Webb. Just one example of these extraordinary songs revealing hitherto undetected tints and shades.
