Carroll Thompson

40th anniversary reissue of the flawless lovers rock classic; on coloured vinyl.

Carroll Thompson grew up listening to reggae, jazz and soul – Marley’s Catch A Fire, Ella Fitzgerald’s Cole Porter recordings, Minnie Riperton’s Perfect

Angel in particular – and when making her own sound she fused them together. The fruit, this 1981 debut, was not just a classic lovers rock album (voted Number 1 by readers in How To Buy, MOJO 329) but a classic, period. Thompson’s songs – eight self-penned, the other two co-writes – express warmth and have a true affinity with their subject matter: love, loss, family. Her soulful vocal, meanwhile, is tender and sweet but with enough grit to stop it becoming saccharine or soppy. The band, featuring Jah Bunny, Cleveland Watkiss and Vin Gordon, are first rate too, intuitive and with a knack for both melody and roots.

Brooklyn quartet’s follow-up to their psych-folk debut began piling on the layers. Though still woozy and lo-fi in feel – more Espers than Animal Collective – its mosaic of instrumental and vocal timbres (best heard here on Knife), hinted at the opulent excess to come. Here in its 15th anniversary, 2-LP edition. CP