Love & Money

Announcing this reunion last year, Love & Money’s lead singer James Grant admitted that he had got far more enjoyment from playing his band’s old songs live than he had expected. That show, where he performed some of their back-catalogue at the audience’s request, led down the road of recording a whole album together again. A year or so later The Devil’s Debt is released, the band’s first collection of songs together since 1993’s Littledeath.

The intervening two decades have seen Grant release a series of critically acclaimed solo albums, largely darker and more melancholy than anything the band did (if possible given previous song titles from Love & Money like My Love Lives In A Dead House!) and the ten songs here have something of a similar feel. However the band inevitably gives the album a bigger sound and the overall feel is more reminiscent of that 1993 album Littledeath. It is certainly less commercial than their earlier material with the tracks touching on familiar themes of love and loss, with one or two nods to the devil (not just in the title track).

For this album the main band consists of Grant’s dark chocolate vocals, Gordon Wilson (drums), Paul McGeechan (keyboards) and Douglas MacIntyre (guitar). But there are also dreamy female vocal contributions from Monica Queen and Gwen Stewart, as well as Louise and Deidre Rutowski (on the tender final track Amaranth).

Grant’s morbid fascinations do not seem to have faded, and there is certainly a dark feel, with the brooding Piglet asking “What did I do to make you so mean” while Goodbye Phoebus contains references to not having long in this world. But Grant’s ability has always been wrapping up those bleak thoughts in pretty tunes. A perfect example of which is the sublime This Is The Last Time, where Grant’s vocal range is displayed perfectly alongside a beautiful string arrangement for the album’s highlight.

Elsewhere the likes of the country tinged I’m Just Too Good For You and the more up-tempo title track stand out, with Grant’s guitar playing is in fine form too. Overall the album is just a little one paced though, and perhaps ends up just short of that glorious reunion fans might have hoped for.