Engine is a three-minute b-side to the single ‘Holland, 1945’, recorded underneath Piccadilly Circus, London, and to dismiss this as mere filler would not only be to lose the point entirely, but to lose out on a master class of song writing. Art is a subjective power, so with freedom I say this is the missing twelfth track of ‘In The Aeroplane Over The Sea’; furthermore, it grows louder and truer with repetition. Forever fresh. Mangum bounds between the strain of wondrous lyrical offerings (“And sweet babies cry for the cool taste of milking.”) and the elegant ooze of frosty melody, as a singing saw weeps with grace, as if deep in thought on some rotting deck chair, with fields of fog the only view to see. The acoustic guitar is quietened, appearing only through your right-ear and then gone again, and a rhythmic section, the sound’s guide, is itching to expound its own self on a grander scale, but always keen to keep with the instruction of refrain. And to all an end will come – outside sirens emanate freely, a cousin to singing saw, and their swirl fades to the lone clap and trap of hand. “Thank you.” All music should be recorded in the London Underground. [Purchase.]
Excellent! Excellent!