Only Peter Astor could succeed in breathing new life into his old(est) songs by withdrawing every ounce of the vibrant jangle that was once the signature sound of his career out of with acts such as The Loft, The Weather Prophets and more latterly his solo work.
However, Astor does so by replacing the jangle with a snapped out twang and the lowest of lo-fi neo-acoustic guitar-pop to offer an aesthetic that is so under-stated that the lyrical nuances are allowed to take control of the album and as such somehow offer emphasized meaning.
As such the middle-class twee, ‘sheer niceness’ of a life not lived by the middle class denizens of Model Village feels engulfed by an extra level of spit, disgust and bile as their days just drift away :
I look down on the model villageHigh above their worldWhere no one cries and no one diesAnd no one feels the painAnd the days just fall away
Whereas Ladies and Gentlemen is typical of the other multiple themes explored throughout the album as his move to well within the ‘middle of middle age’ and his forty years in the industry, sees him lament the futility of life and the impossibility of ever really making any sort of genuinely meaningful impact.
Ladies and GentlemenI’m tired and in the freeze of a headlightthis rabbits been undoneI’m tired of being nice to everyone
When I see Them I just Run
And…
I’m tired of my job as a shadowCan’t you see I’m invisible…
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