 | | Jim Noir - Tower Of Love |
It’s been 12 long months since Noir popped into the musical consciousness with the gently madcap humour of Eanie Meany (remember those opening lines: if you don’t give me my football back/I’m going to get my dad on you…) and found an instant place in the melting hearts of tripped-out music lovers in the know. Since then, he’s popped back a couple of times for the equally impressive My Patch and A Quiet Man EPs, before deciding, just like the Beta Band before him, to gather the three together into this, a fluffy boxing glove of an album that lulls, licks and loves in equal proportions. Unlike the Betas though, Noir’s added a sprinkling of new stuff to tickle the fancy of the anoraks that have already collected the limited edition singles, making it an essential opus whether this is your opening Noir experience or not. The joys of the EPs’ title tracks are well documented, but in a longer format, the side orders like the beautiful ode to his PC, Computer Song, the twisted tale of I Me You I’m Your and In The Key Of C’s infectious bounce blossom, while new tracks Turbulent Weather and The Only Way only add to the claim that Noir might well turn out to be the musical oddball find of the decade. Let’s be straight about this. Tower Of Love is the debut of the year, a swirling ethereal wonder to soundtrack your dreams and underscore your fantasies. When Jim was asked what reaction he thought the album would get, he answered that he hoped "someone out there likes it." Rest assured, Mr Noir, they will. | 
