element of light

After the quick explosion and the slow release of heat, Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians let the tide recede to reveal the luminous grooves of this shimmering gem of psychedelic pop. The trio of Hitchcock, bassist Andy Metcalfe, and drummer Morris Windsor is joined by keyboardist Roger Jackson as a full fledged member after touring with the band and appearing on their first studio effort 'Fegmania!' and their live album 'Gotta Let This Hen Out!'. Most of the album was recorded by Pat Collier at Alaska and Berry Street Studios in London, with two songs recorded live at the Town and Country Club on BBC Mobile. Produced by Hitchcock and Metcalfe, and mixed by Metcalfe and Collier, 'Element of Light' draws a beautiful balance between absurdist whimsy and earnest pop accessibility. The most striking element of the album may be Andy's intricate fretless bass lines; which provide a dynamic undercurrent on even the most serious soundscapes. It was my first exposure to Hitchcock, and remains my favorite of his albums. Several of the bonus tracks are essential.

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The elegant 'Raymond Chandler Evening' had Andy playing bass keyboard.

I remember what I told you

But I can't remember why

And the yellow leaves are falling

In a spiral from the sky

Inspired by the eroding beachscape of the Isle of Wight, the dreamy and delicate 'Airscape' gives the album its title and provides the setting for the photos. Jackson plays glass harmonica and Windsor sings harmony. On 'Storefront Hitchcock', Robyn explains the song thusly: "I don't come from anywhere particularly, but inasmuch as I come from anywhere, I come from this diamond-shaped island at the bottom of England, it slots into the bottom as if Great Britain was laying an egg, and it's this diamond-shaped egg, which is the Isle of Wight. And ah, there's some very beautiful bits of cliff and beach there. But it's very soft, the bottom of the island is disappearing at the rate of about ah, ten feet a year. Stuff just goes, and it doesn't seem to come back. And ah, so I worked out that, that the cliffs where I pace, in another hundred years' time will disappear completely, and that my ghost will be fifty feet above the beach. There must be other ghosts out to sea, as the ghosts get further out to sea their costumes get older, so you've got you know, ghosts from the fifties about twenty feet out, and ghosts from World War II ghosts just beyond that, and you've got Great War ghosts with their goggles, and Edwardian ghosts with their mantles and Victorian ghosts with their cravats and canes, ah Jacobean ghosts with their... legs. And it just goes back on, whatever they had, those things to stop 'em smelling too bad. And about a mile out, there must be Cro-Magnon ghosts, clubbing each other to death and grinning. Now I guess there's going to be a few more of those inland as well. Anyway, this is a song from my ghost to those who walk underneath it."

And in the element of summer

The cliffs suspended in the heat

The air in columns

The tiny figures of the world are walking

Underneath your feet

And underneath your hair

Where angels wander

I'll wander too

The backing track for 'The President' was recorded live with guitar overdubs on BBC Mobile and vocal and bass overdubs at Alaska. It was inspired by Ronald Reagan's visit to Bitburg, where members of theWaffen-SS were buried and features some of Hitchcock's most incisive political lyrics.

When I hear the word "Democracy"

I reach for my headphones

When I hear the word "Security"

I reach for my shotgun

The original album ends with the medieval drama of 'Lady Waters and the Hooded One'. It was the other track recorded live at the Town and Country Club with guitar and vocal overdubs done at Alaska.

"Will you dance with me, Lady Waters?"

And a bony hand plucked her gown

"Will you dance with me," said the Hooded One

"For the plague has now reached this town"

Everyone sings on the bonus track 'The Black Crow Knows' and Andy plays keyboards.

Hovering above you like the speck in someone's eye

Measuring the distance between now and when you die

Everything that happens makes sense to someone else

So far away above you you'll never know your self

For the raucous 'Tell Me About Your Drugs', everyone switches instruments: Andy plays drums, Morris plays guitar, and Robyn plays bass and keyboards. Robyn describes the genesis of the song: "Well, I was walking through...I was walking over a flat area, and it was the middle of winter, and there were lots of dead things on the ground. And I was going over an area of flat paving stones, and I was vibrating internally -- as is my wont -- because I'd just had a cup of coffee (believe it or not). And I thought, 'Oh yes, `Tell Me About Your Drugs`, that would be a good song to write.' So I whipped back inside, and I wrote down the song 'Tell Me About Your Drugs' in about three minutes. I picked up the guitar later that day and sang it, and then recorded it on a portable multi-track machine, played it to the band, and we played it live. It's a song very little thought has gone into. I'm hardly aware of having written it. Do you want to know what it's about, or something? You look like you ate a biscuit with a bone in it (or something)...The song is about...phew, John, that's a tough cookie. I don't know. Now you've asked me, I'm wondering what it's about. It seems to me that the words are about people who just wish they were somebody else all the time. They're insecure. They feel inadequate in their own lifestyle. They want to be someone else. Basically, the drugs in question are about other people, you know? They want to idolize somebody because they just can't face existing in their own right. They don't feel that they're worthy, so they get manipulated by the machinery into looking up to somebody and wanting to be them. And also, they can't stand themselves, so maybe they've got to have coke and booze and fags, and all the other things you have out of insecurity. Thanks for asking me. I've got to the bottom of that one."

Do you wake up on somebody's floor?

Tell me about your drugs

And you just can't take it anymore?

Tell me about your drugs

Ah, we all get hit by forces that we just don't understand

'Element of Light' 
full album:



All songs written by Robyn Hitchcock.


Side one
"If You Were a Priest"
"Winchester"
"Somewhere Apart"
"Ted, Woody and Junior"
"The President"

Side two
"Raymond Chandler Evening"
"Bass"
"Airscape"
"Never Stop Bleeding"
"Lady Waters & the Hooded One"

bonus
"The Black Crow Knows"
"The Crawling"
"The Leopard"
"Tell Me About Your Drugs"
"Sprinkling Dots"
"Upside Down Church Blues"
"Into It"
"Neck"
"Bass (Demo)"
"Lady Waters Mix 1 ("Lady Waters & The Hooded One" demo)"