Luxembourg

Last Holiday Before Divorce: Deleted Scenes from an Unfinished Sequel

Luxembourg were:

David Shah – Vocals

Rob Britton – Guitar

Alex Potterill – Keyboards

Steve Brummell – Drums

David Barnett – Bass

1. I'm A Phantom

(Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Alex Potterill

Alex: My flatmate George brought home a battered Juno synth from his band's old rehearsal space. It's very temperamental, but makes lovely noises, and I spent a couple of hours late one afternoon messing around with it, as the sun dipped and the room turned orange. Originally called "Archway Sunset", before David got his hands on it, this was the result.

David: Pretty much picking up from the final line on Front, this song seems perfect as the opener on Last Holiday…

2. Last Lap (demo)

(Barnett/Britton/Brummell/Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Alex Potterill

Alex: The first track written for this album, but always a bit too esoteric for the thoroughly emaciated London gig scene. I love David's lyric and the image of a truck-driver stuck on an endless loop of motorways and ring roads. A re-recorded version of this wouldn't have been hugely different – just a bit more majestic, perhaps.

David: This is what happens when you ditch the train and start making your long-distance journeys by coach. I'd like to think the song would've been more of a hit at gigs if a recording like this one had been available to people at the time.

3. Radio (demo)

(Barnett/Britton/Brummell/Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Alex Potterill

David: This sounded like a straight-ahead pop song to me so, naturally, I decided to cram the lyrics with references to historical figures. Well, we did give it a radio-friendly title.

Alex: Originally brought in by Rob, "Radio" went through a number of arrangements before we were happy with it. I like the simplicity of this recording, which essentially just misses a rather ace lead guitar line on the choruses.

4. Kick Me

(Barnett/Britton/Brummell/Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Brian O'Shaughnessey and Alex Potterill

Recorders arranged by Alex Potterill and performed by Jenni Britton

David: This was intended as a glorious double A-side single with "Not Quite Right", but there wasn't a label in the land willing to release it. Bet they're kicking themselves now.

Alex: One of two tracks recorded at Bark last summer, the studio which previously brought you Front. And "Star Trekkin'". I like to think this song explores the middle ground between those heady peaks. Creating the stamping feet effect was a complex and mysterious process, but Rob's boots helped. Many thanks to Rob's sister Jen for the recorder action.

5. Art Is No Defence (rough demo)

(Britton/Shah)

Recorded by Rob Britton and David Shah

Alex: Whilst this was never going to be a mainstay of the live set, in some ways, I think it's at the heart of what this album was all about – and why it could never be made. Listen a few times and the beauty at the core of the song suddenly blossoms.

David: Once I'd listened to the music a few times, I knew Rob had come up with something special. The vocal was written fairly early in 2007, yet we didn't attempt to arrange the song as a five-piece until 2008. Given the full studio treatment, it would have been stunning.

6. Steady Pressure (demo)

(Barnett/Britton/Brummell/Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Alex Potterill

David: As often happened with Luxembourg, I was given a piece of music (this time initiated by Alex) that was a real treat, virtually gift-wrapped. On stage, Steve, David, Rob and Al would play this one so elegantly that my job was easy.

Alex: Lovely song, and I'm pretty pleased with the recording – it just would have sounded warmer with a real piano.

7. Not Quite Right/Not Quite Not Right

(Barnett/Britton/Brummell/Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Brian O'Shaughnessey and Alex Potterill

Saxophone by Phil Whaite

Alex: The other track from Bark, and very much a companion piece to "Kick Me". Top sax action from the venerable Mr Phil Whaite, and always great fun to play live. Well, except the time it nearly made me throw up in my mouth.

David: Thanks, Phil! What a superb, audacious romp this is, musically. And, in case anyone's interested, it features my favourite ever opening line to a Luxembourg song.

8. Broadstairs (rough mix)

(Britton/Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Alex Potterill

Alex: We couldn't do anything with this song of Rob and David's as a five-piece, but I was very fond of the melody, so I constructed a new backing track and sampled the guitar from an extremely lo-fi rehearsal room recording. There's some unwanted distortion going on, something to do with sequencer levels and audio interfaces and the like. Sorry about that. I never was very techie.

David:  I'm glad this song was rescued, and then some. No prizes for guessing where I was when I wrote the words.

9. Crowd Scene (demo)

(Barnett/Britton/Brummell/Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Alex Potterill and Rob Britton

David: Again, it's a bit of a shame people didn't get to hear this in recorded form before seeing us do it live. "Crowd Scene" felt like something of a foray into new territory for Lux. On this version, the parts coalesce to brilliant effect, I think.

Alex: Rob did a sterling job on my version of this, adding extra guitars at home to give this the bite it deserves. One of my favourites, actually.

10. The Beast In The Jungle (demo)

(Barnett/Britton/Brummell/Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Alex Potterill

David: Well, if Kate can do it with "Wuthering Heights", why shouldn't I?

Alex: This one's crying out for a huge, Spector-esque production, rather than the tinny sounding job I made of it at home. Ideally, it should have had strings, brass and the kitchen sink chucked at it, to justify the final lyrical payoff.

11. When You Went Away (demo)

(Barnett/Britton/Brummell/Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Alex Potterill

Alex: Inspired in part, albeit indirectly, by the River Thames at Woolwich and the sense there of a crossing between continents, this is our Portishead moment, if you like, although it tends to remind me more of The Cure. In a good way.

David: A new way of working for Luxembourg – Al gave me some notes he'd made and I just had to rearrange them and extrapolate a bit to get the lyric for "When You Went Away". As indeed we did on…

 12. London Is Blue (demo)

(Barnett/Britton/Brummell/Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Alex Potterill

Alex: A highlight of the last year's live shows, and possibly the poppiest thing we'd done since "Close-Cropped". This version is pretty slapdash, and there are none of the towers of synths that should be underpinning the rhythm and forcing people onto dancefloors all over this godforsaken country. And other godforsaken countries, for that matter. It's still a cracking tune though.

David: It sure is.

13. How I Love You (demo)

(Barnett/Britton/Brummell/Potterill/Shah)

Produced by Richard Adderley

David: Rob's original demo reminded me of Sparks, so off I went and scribbled something playful involving barn conversions and recycling. The others then, quite rightly, made sure it sounded like Luxembourg, not the Maels. I'd like to see Ron and Russell doing a cover of it though.

Alex: The lovely Mr Adderley recorded this demo for us at some point in early Summer 2007. It lacks a little of the manic energy the song should have to be the perfect album kiss-off, but you get the general idea. And that, my friends, is that.

Hi there

You may have thought that we've been a little quiet of late - and, well, you'd be right…

It is with deep regret that we have to announce the demise of Luxembourg. This, literally is it. We could go into microscopically honest detail, but in effect it all comes down to that old favourite, musical differences. If it makes you feel better though, blame Boris Johnson.

Anyway, we couldn't go without saying a huge thank you to all of you for your support over the years. We couldn't have done it without you. To show our appreciation, and also because it'd be a terrible shame if it just ended up on the laminate floor of our lives, we've uploaded the interrupted-work-in-progress that represents our second studio album to the Interweb here:

http://www.last.fm/music/Luxembourg/Last+Holiday+Before+Divorce%3A+Deleted+Scenes+From+An+Unfinished+Sequel

A couple of tracks are finished, but most are demos of varying sheen and precision. For more disclaimers and apologistic narrative, see the blog entry that follows this one.

Here's the tracklisting:

"I'm A Phantom"

"Last Lap" (demo)

"Radio" (demo)

"Kick Me"

"Art Is No Defence" (rough demo)

"Steady Pressure" (demo)

"Not Quite Right / Not Quite Not Right"

"Broadstairs" (rough mix)

"Crowd Scene" (demo)

"The Beast In The Jungle" (demo)

"When You Went Away" (demo)

"London Is Blue" (demo)

"How I Love You" (demo)

To round off a career very much characterized by titular concision, we've called the album Last Holiday Before Divorce: Deleted Scenes From An Unfinished Sequel. We hope you like it.

For those of you who crave physical product, Rob has designed some sleeve art for the album. It should be available to download for printing in due course from our new archive/fansite - the one we haven't finished building yet.  Oh, and we strongly recommend you don't bother visiting the old site any more. Through an unfortunate series of events (a possible subtitle for a future Luxembourg biography, that, perhaps?), the URL has been hijacked and is now playing host to some fairly extreme content.

Alternatively, or in addition, if you really crave physical product, and fancy supporting a good cause, "Kick Me" also features on charity compilation Doing It For The Kids '08, along with a whole host of people, some of whom – Ballboy, Ed Harcourt, The Orchids, oh, and The New Royal Family – you may have heard of. Full details at www.diftk08.org.uk.

A final word - don't for one second think that these are the last musical efforts of the five of us. It's highly likely you'll be hearing from us separately in the not-so-distant future, as we pursue our own distinctive furrows. For more, watch this space.

You've been a wonderful audience. Thank you and goodnight.

David B, Rob, Steve, Alex and David S

Luxembourg are pleased to announce that we have a new bassist. Suede biographer and former Boyfriend David Barnett will be making his live debut with us on Saturday 14 April at Feeling Gloomy in Islington.

Hello, as some of you may know, we recently parted company with our bass player, Jon.

Obviously we are very sad about this, and shall miss him an awful lot. We are happy to report, however,  that his departure is entirely amicable and that we imagine we'll be seeing him in some other capacity at occasional future Luxembourg related events.

We must make it clear that this in no way signals the end of Luxembourg, and that we shall be returning in Spring with a new bass player and a bunch of new songs to treat you with too.

Stay tuned for the exciting news of our new member, and please join us in wishing Jon well in all he does. He's been an absolute star, and the band would not be what it is if not for his wit, coolness and influence.

We'll see you soon.

Much love,
Luxembourg
xxx

We're looking now to book shows for November and beyond.  We can travel - we'll try to get to you whether your gig is in Newcastle or New Cross.

Please get in touch if you want to put us on. 

Thanks

Lux