The new single from Brighton-based electro popsters The Electric Soft Parade is a lovely slice of prog-brushed soft rock designed for a summer evening on a comfortably pebbly beach. This is, of course, what Alex and Tom White do best.
What they do second best is adore Billy MacKenzie, former lead singer of The Associates, and strive to keep his music in the public consciousness. They arranged a tribute concert to mark what would have been his 50th birthday (he committed suicide in 1997) earlier this year, and it is from here that many listeners will know Blue It Is, the MacKenzie track they have chosen to record as Misunderstanding's B-side.
It's on this track that ESP really shine (and will ensure non-download sales). Though the record company can't spell MacKenzie's name on the sleeve notes, miscrediting him as McKenzie, this is a truly beautiful interpretation of his song, the original version of which was released posthumously.
The fact that ESP manage to do justice to a cover of a song by a singer whose vocal range was beyond even the comprehension of most acts completely overshadows the title track, but it does help to remind you that they're a touch above the MOR torch song balladry they can sometimes seem to sink beneath. Job done.
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