''Standards'' is a rock album by English singer, songwriter and musician

Lloyd Cole Lloyd Cole (born 31 January 1961) is an English singer and songwriter. He was lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989 and subsequently worked solo. Early life Cole was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. He grew up in ...

released on 21 June 2013 by Tapete Records. It is Cole's tenth solo album under his own name, although only his second since 1995 to feature a full band of additional musicians. Cole produced the album himself with additional mixing by Olaf Opal and Joerg Siegeler.

Background

Cole says that he was inspired by the energy and vibrancy of Bob Dylan's album ''

Tempest Tempest is a synonym for a storm. '' The Tempest'' is a play by William Shakespeare. Tempest or The Tempest may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''The Tempest'' (1908 film), a British silent film * ''The Tempest'' (1911 film), a ...

'', which surprised him considering Dylan's age. Cole said: The album is also notable for its emphasis on

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

; Cole had established himself as an acoustic and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

ian through his most recent studio releases and touring predominantly as solo performer with an acoustic guitar. The band assembled by Cole includes, among others, the rhythm section from his debut self-titled solo album (1990) and his follow up ''Don't Get Weird on Me Babe'' (1991) in the form of drummer Fred Maher and bassist

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/ power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 199 ...

. Blair Cowan a former member of the Commotions plays keyboards and Joan Wasser plays piano and supplies additional vocals. Cole's own son William plays guitar on the album including a solo on the track 'It's Late'. William also appeared in the video for the song 'Period Piece'. Cole wrote 10 original songs for the album alone before taking them to the studio to play with the other musicians, he only had the guitar parts to play as he had not recorded demo tracks prior to entering the studio. The album features a cover of a

John Hartford John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country, and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive k ...

song called "California Earthquake," which Cole mistakenly believed to have been a composition by John Phillips of

The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of ...

after hearing a version sung by

Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group brok ...

. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, Easthampton and New York and mixed in Bochum.

Financing

The recording of the album was partially financed through pre-sales of a deluxe limited edition of the album; the purchasers were also credited as executive producers of the album and received copies before general release. The deluxe limited edition of the album was a pre-sale exclusive and featured an additional disc of outtakes, a handwritten lyric book, and a personal note of thanks from Cole, as well as the complete album. A target of 600 box sales was successfully reached before the scheduled deadline. The rest of the recording budget was provided by Tapete Records and Cole himself.

Critical reception

The album has been well received by critics and reviewers.

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

described it as 'what may be ole'sbest album... he's devised a sound replete with twisting, cyclical guitar lines and tints of keyboards.'

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

wrote that 'Lloyd Cole's latest album is fine advertisement for approaching the act of writing in contemplative way.

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

said of the album: 'glittering literate... with its steely interlaced guitars and high/low cultural references is like

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

and

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

on a road trip in a top-down convertible, with a stack of jazz mags in the boot. The magazine Mojo described the album as 'captivating' saying the tracks 'form a charming, intriguing whole, sometimes with telling simplicity.' Reviews have also compared the album both positively and negatively to his work with the Commotions. The Arts Desk described it as 'an album that ticks a lot of the old boxes, with some lovely dad-rock flourishes. While Roy Wilkinson writing in Mojo said the album harks back to the Commotions' second album '' Easy Pieces'', dubbing it archetypal Cole. In contrast, The Telegraph said 'Each song is carefully crafted, filled with a kind of mordant, misanthropic wit that skates over deep emotions' and that Cole fails to 'recapture the firebrand innocence of his early pop classics.'

Track listing

Personnel

;Musicians *

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

, keyboards,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

, production *

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

* Fred Maher –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

* Blair Cowan – keyboards * Mark Schwaber – guitar,

harmony vocals Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical ...

* Will Cole – guitar, harmony vocals * Matt Cullen – guitar * Joan Wasser –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

, harmony vocals * Dave Derby – harmony vocals * Mike Wyzik –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

;Technical personnel * Olaf Opal – mixing * Joerg Siegeler – mixing * Hosuk Lee-Makiyama – artwork design

Chart positions

References

External links

Official website album informationRecord label artist and album profile
{{Authority control 2013 albums Lloyd Cole albums Tapete Records albums