Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The canvas, even at the end, still has room for one more additional brush of artistry that will compliment the overall picture, some will take the time to adorn, even flourish the one space they need to see the bigger picture, others will leave the plot blank, the secrets perhaps they keep to themselves of the one they have painted for others to see.

Art is not always based in happiness, but perhaps at its greatest moment of vitality it is grounded in grief, the story of the picture given more truth because the framing of the subject is required to be anything but the memory of the artist’s vision. This sense of gravity is always one that is humbling, full of imagery, and one that encapsulates the return of The Electric Soft Parade after a six-year hiatus.

The new album, Stages, is the first of two new recordings that deal with the close up nature of grief, the transcendence of art into the life of those left behind to look at the pictures that remain, and whether we choose to add something more to their time by way of a dedication, or by leaving the moment blank, out of respect, nothing to add to the joy they may have brought.

In Stages, The Electric Soft Parade renew their friendship with the listener and place before them the outline of the greatest painting, that of love between people and how we honour their memory, even during the seven stages of grief. Across seven beautifully enticing, heart-wringing tracks, Saturday, Never Mind, The Bargain, Left Behind, On Your Own, Roles Reverse and Fragments, what comes to mind is a truth that we frequently forget to mention, that our honour is not only to those that have passed by, but to ourselves; after all we are the product of that love.

A sensual, deeply involved set of songs, Stages heralds the long-awaited return of The Electric Soft Parade to the platform of the greats.

The Electric Soft Parade’s Stages is out now and available via Chord Orchard.

Ian D. Hall