A London band led by Marcus Gooda that features members of Employed to Serve and Ducking Punches, The Yacht Club are set to release their new album ‘The Last Words That You Said to Me Have Kept Me Here and Safe’ via our friends at Beth Shalom Records on 25 January. Written following the death of one of Marcus’ closest friends, the record covers important topics of mental health and has been informed by the grieving process.
The album opens with the American Football-style twinkle of ‘Be Happy and Love Pt 2’. It’s an intricate and slow-burning sound that gives the powerful lyrics plenty of space: ‘Another year without you here and the leaves still fall, like they always do’; ‘I still mention you, you’re not some bitter word I want to say’; ‘I can’t hate you for it, but I can’t come to terms with what you did’. Recent single ‘Heigham Park’ opens with ASIWYFA-style riffs and has Marcus recalling with pride the times spent drinking in the park with his beloved friend ‘speaking about love lost’. ‘Postmarks’ has twiddly guitars in the style of Foxing as Macus explains how: ‘Everywhere reminds me of all the things I lack. We both wanted to leave but you never came back’.
‘Glue’ opens with a description of being ‘entwined like lovers’ with ‘tangled limbs’ before becoming a declaration of reassurance of being there for someone in need: ‘If you’re falling apart, I could be the glue to mend your broken heart’. Following this is the TTNG-style ’21’, which is packed with mathy breakdowns and an energetic and uptempo rhythm section that subtly beds underneath the honest lyrics: ‘I’ll never move forward if who I am is so deeply rooted in the past’; ‘Everyone I know has lost someone they love far too young’.
‘Hopeless’ finds Marcus looking back on past mistakes and romantic encounters with Kinsella-style riffs and distinctive drumming: ‘I swear when we touched the Earth moved’. ‘In Amber’ is a nostalgic piece that reminded us of Tellison with its observations of how we tend to think of our youth through rose-tinted glasses: ‘I wish I could bottle how I felt at 16, savour the sweetness of the past’. The closing ‘Be Happy and Love Pt 3’ has elements of The Hotelier in its guitar sound and appears to be Marcus looking back over the anger that comes with grief (‘I’m terrified that I’m burning every bridge’). It finishes with Elbow-style chant of ‘Be happy and love’ which you can imagine will finish their live shows in style.
This is an important record packed with emotional moments and powerful observation on life, grief and recovery.
