Nothing Lasts Forever

by Teenage Fanclub

Overview

If there's an overriding sentiment that runs through all of Teenage Fanclub's work and which has taken on a deeper resonance since at least 2010's Shadows, it's that the beloved Scottish group are journeyman pop bards crafting beautiful anthems about everyday life. It's a poetic, introspective vibe and one that illuminates all of their gently intoxicating 12th album, 2023's Nothing Lasts Forever. Their second effort since the 2018 departure of bassist/singer Gerard Love, Nothing Lasts Forever is a softly textured production anchored by songwriting of the remaining founder members, Norman Blake (guitars/vocals) and Raymond McGinley (guitars/vocals). Together, along with their longtime touring ensemble featuring Francis Macdonald on drums, Dave McGowan on bass, and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci founder Euros Childs on keyboards, they've crafted an album that finds them ruminating on growing older and coming to a place of peace with one's life. Explicitly, where Endless Arcade was written during a time of turmoil for Blake as he wrestled with the break-up of his marriage, here he seems to have found an acceptance and even hopefulness that life has more to offer. It's an uplifting vibration they conjure on the opening "Foreign Land," in which their slinky, fuzztone psych-guitar riffs frame Blake's lyrics about moving on from the past. He sings, "My heart was like a stone/But now it's beating brightly/The past's a foreign land/I did my best, you understand." The song nicely evokes the group's late-'60s Laurel Canyon folk-rock influences and perfectly sets up the tone of what's to come. Equally soft focus and organic textures follow, as on the Todd Rundgren-esque "I Left the Light On," the piano-driven "Self Sedation" with its Paul Williams-meets-the Beach Boys vibe, and the shimmering "Middle of Mind" whose poetic melody and spectral synthesizers bring to mind Pink Floyd ballad. We also get the crunchy guitar sparkle of "Tired of Being Alone" and "Back to the Light," both of which recall the band's classic Grand Prix and Songs from Northern Britain albums. With Nothing Lasts Forever, Teenage Fanclub have made a poignant, delicately rendered rumination on the passing of time and the enduring promise of love, throwing their lyricism into relief. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	09/22/2023
Label:	Merge
UPC:	0673855084213
Rank:	25565

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Teenage Fanclub   Primary Artist
John McCusker   Strings
Stephen Black   Clarinet,Saxophone
Daisy Spiers   Strings

Technical Credits

Teenage Fanclub   Producer
Francis MacDonald   Group Member
Raymond McGinley   Composer,Engineer,Group Member
Euros Childs   Group Member
Tom Walsh   String Engineer
Guy Davie   Mastering
David Henderson   Engineer
David McGowan   Group Member
Norman Blake   Composer,Group Member
Joe Jones   Engineer
H. Hawkline   Design