Fat White Family – Forgiveness Is Yours (Indies Clear Vinyl)

Four years in the making Fat White Family return with their fourth album “Forgiveness Is Yours”. An eclectic, chaotic yet always coherent album that takes no prisoners. Starting with the T S Eliot influenced “The Archivist” the album moves from the Pentangling of “John Lennon”, to the growling swaggering synths of “Polygamy is Only for the Chief”, taking in spoken word ( the harrowing “Today You Become A Man” ) & even shades of Robert Palmer in the insistent 80’s pop of “Work”. Lyrically literary influences abound, the aforementioned T S Eliot, poet Zaffar Kunial, transgressive philosopher Georges Bataille amongst others. Working with the forever ebbing & flowing line up of players & collaborators brothers Lias & Nathan Saoudi are the core songwriters with turns taken with long term band members Alex White & Adam Harmer & fellow travellers Jessica Winter & the esteemed Clive Langer. Taking artistic cues from the Fluxus movement & especially Yoko Ono’s work visually, the album art is a exercise in minimalism, using a piece from Anna McDowell only embossed & pale grey imagery/text to draw you in.