Robyn Hitchcock Says "Goodnight Oslo"
Eccentric Songwriter Returns With Another Playful Album
Apr 5, 2009
With a career spanning 30 years, singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock has never cracked the mainstream, but he has grown and maintained a fan base who eagerly awaits each release. Rarely one to disappoint, Hitchcock has ensured the past few years have been especially fruitful for his loyal listeners. The good news continues with Goodnight Oslo.
A Soft Boy Plays With A Young Fresh Fellow
Robyn Hitchcock first made a name for himself as part of Cambridge quartet The Soft Boys, whose album, Underwater Moonlight, is considered a classic of '70s British psychedelic pop. Following The Soft Boys’ demise, Hitchcock began making solo records and, for a number of mid-career releases, worked with a band called The Egyptians. However, in 2006, Hitchcock enlisted some friends to make Olé Tarantula; comprised of R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, The Young Fresh Fellows’ Scott McCaughey and Ministry drummer Bill Rieflin, The Venus 3 was born.
While there’s no mistaking that Hitchcock is in control – these are, after all, his songs – the addition of The Venus 3 brings new life to the singer, who has rarely disappointed fans over the course of 20-odd albums. While there’s definitely truth in the adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” sometimes there’s good in shaking things up a bit. The Venus 3 provide interesting, playful instrumentation that makes Hitchcock’s vocals shine.
Expect the Unexpected
While slinky album opener, “What You Is”, may be a little too whimsical for new listeners to wrap their ears around, it doesn’t take long before things start cooking. Hitchcock, who has been known to throw in lyrical references to prawns, offal, streetcars and sundry other unusual subject matter, doesn’t disappoint in creating vivid and often surprising images on Goodnight Oslo.
The study of relationships between men and women may seem like a subject too well-trawled to find anything new, Hitchcock reminds us that love is an “Intricate Thing” and “You’re not just bodies in the lounge / bodies on the small settee.” His language is casual, but his is not the standard pop song vocabulary.
Then there’s “TLC”, which has nothing to do with “Tender Loving Care”, but is instead a list of drugs: Tryptisol. Librium. Carbitol. According to Paul Myers on crawdaddy.com, these were the type of chemicals that caused the deaths of both song writer Nick Drake and Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Hitchcock sings the list in a sleepy, pretty way; the result is hypnotic and a little frightening, given the subject matter.
Goodnight Oslo is so lyrically dense that it requires one’s full attention in order to really hear it. There are some surprises here both musically – “Saturday Groovers” is an almost T-Rex style stomp to it – and vocally – The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy guests. It’s a record that requires and deserves some time to be spent with it and it alone.
Box Set Retrospectives
In the past couple of years, Yep Roc records has compiled six of Hitchcock’s earlier albums and rarities and presented them as the I Wanna Go Backwards and Luminous Groove collections. While they offer a vast amount of material for new listeners, they are lovely collections for fans.
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