But “Beautiful Thing,” although dripping with scorn and sarcasm for the artifice and hypocrisy that steer society, ends with a surprisingly optimistic if tenuous declaration of faith in humanity. The disc’s theme, though, comes full circle with closer “Temporary,” which declares life’s pleasures just that – fleeting and subject to inevitable decay (“Live well and learn to die / Soon in the dust you’ll lie").
In lesser hands the whole project might well sink under what seems, on the surface, an unrelenting gloom. Thanks in no small part to Gurf Morlix’ atmospheric production, though – arrangements seem fraught with restless ghosts and prairie winds – the disc succeeds admirably. Somehow, one senses that despite the darkness of his subject matter, Cleaves never quite loses hope.
And that hope redeems the disc; Slaid isn’t a morose whiner, he’s a sharp observer with an unerring eye for telling detail and lines as hard-edged as diamonds. And just as diamonds emerge from the impenetrable blackness of coal, Cleave’s songs, shining with the beauty of truth and honesty, emerge as things precious, to be savored and treasured.
Just don’t expect to dance much …
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