waltz

Last year Welsh pop-psychedelicists Soft Hearted Scientists returned in 2023 with their most ambitious album. Waltz Of The Weekend encompassed both perfectly-formed pop vignettes and extended sonic explorations. As one crtic noted: “the pop songs have got poppier, and the weird songs have got weirder”.

The album took the best part of four years to complete, and would grow during the mixing process through the assistance and guidance of producer Frank Naughton. Songs were extended and freshly-written sections were added. The middle section of ‘Rode My Bike’, for instance, become a standalone track called ‘Gadzooks!’; wild and over-the-top song, before it’s done it tips its hat to the Butthole Surfers’ cover of ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ and James Bond film themes.

‘Who Loves The Moon?’ and ‘Lost Mariners’ are just two short pieces that became long. The former grew from a few chords and a repeated refrain over in two minutes into an eight minute multi-sectioned trip; while the latter turned from from a short mantra into an eleven minute ghost story.

Fruits de Mer Records are now releasing a triple-vinyl version of Waltz Of The Weekend. The third disc contains additions to the twelve tracks from the original CD edition. These include three radical Naughton remixes of the songs ‘Rode My Bike’, ‘What Grows Inside The Garden’ and ‘The Sea Anemone Song’, while for the final side Frank gleefully rips songs to pieces creating his own uninhibited, extended remix/remake of the Soft Hearted Scientists original handiwork.

The album is available from 27th Feb but can be preordered now.  Details from Fruits de Mer