Is This Love?

Track 10 sees Is This Love from Raindancing getting
A major reworking. 1980s bells and whistles begone

Yes, I think it's, yeah, I think it was probably in its earlier

Iteration, a little bit too perky for me. Do you mean in the sense

That it has a kind of a romance to it that I'm not a particularly

Romantic person. And so as with a lot of songs, it's about trying to

Find another way to engage, you know, to find an aesthetic that kind
Of suits where we're at the moment and sits with an understanding
That we can apply to the song. And for us, it kind of started with a
Premise of being a bit Twin Peaks-y. Not that that's where Sean ended
Up, but I also love those zombie films where they kind of go into
Empty supermarket malls and you know, and you get that that tannoy
Sound, which is not what we have, which is going to
Completely throw you off. But there is something about
That slight separation, you know, something that's
Kind of a little bit ghostly wise other that Sean said

Yeah, that's a good call, actually. I think that we've captured
A bit of that. Now, interestingly, this is the only one where
I did have a go at it once in perky form and hated doing it
And then played it to you. Not as much as I hated it, eh?
And you winced all the way through

You're not renowned for your perky, are you?
Well, the thing is, is I really don't like editing. I don't like
Well, I say I like editing, but I'm saying I really didn't want
To approach this editing Sean, because I really do trust his sounds
And, you know, and we have an area that we really meet strongly
And I go off, obviously, some places he doesn't bother to go
And he has more of a pop sensibility than I do, you know, genuinely
Enjoys that stuff. So, yes, so you approach it, like you say
With a perkiness that neither belongs to my mind, neither my body

But I was relieved when you said no
Because I wasn't really loving doing it

No

There is one melodic line from that version that survived into the

Final version. So that justifies having done that first perky

Attempt. So when it was like, we'll do a different spin, all credit

To John Garden, because when he was the MD, when I joined the band

In 2013, the version that we did on the Minutes Tour is the starting

Point for where this one is. And I just wanted to push that to its
Kind of fullest extremes. Like the two kind of most important things
For me as my development as a musician, as a youngster, were like
ABBA, synth pop, and then a bit later sort of indie stroke shoegaze
Stuff, the kind of My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins type world
And I wanted to sort of bring a bit of all of that into this version
Of Is This Love. And I think it's got the kind of, I wanted the kind
Of sweeping drama without it feeling like melodramatic. And I think
It's got that. I think it works really well. And it's again, it's
A nice kind of angle on the vocal. It puts it in a different place

Yeah, I can certainly relate to it much easier. And it's interesting
We talk about John Garden, because I started working with John Garden
Around the home time. So he was very much a part of that whole kind
Of Bristol group at the time. So, and you know, and I really like a
Lot of his choices, his taste. That really did give us a nice footing
, Didn't it? It really did give us, you know, that kind of other
Other kind, and I'm not talking about the album other, but an
Otherness to it that I'd been kind of looking for in that song

Because there are certain songs, you know, that you've had as hits

That you absolutely want to honour. You want to honour that time

With a fan base that have a lot of strong memories around those

Releases. But at the same time, I never ever want to be in a position

Where I'm dialling something in, where I'm doing it out of duty
Because the minute I do that, then I'm no longer an artist and I'm
Compromising to too great a degree. So that's why some tracks we've
Tried to work and have just not been able to find a way into them
Just can't do it. And so I have to park them. Whereas Is This Love
It does have a kind of a, it did have an inherent charm. It did
Have something about it that was worth really striving for to find
That place that I could both share with people that wanted to
Hear the song, but also deliver a more honest interpretation of it
For where I am now as a 63 year old, as opposed to when I was 23

And it was like a top three song. But what would you

Say to anyone that goes, but I prefer the original?

Oh, they've got it, haven't they? And that's the whole point. It's

Like you don't go to a live show expecting karaoke. Live music is

Not there to replicate an album. You know, they're very different

Experiences. They're very different processes. You know, as I said

To you before, the vocal I'll get on an album is oftentimes very

Very different to how it will sound live because I have the freedom
Of working without compressors, without editing, without someone
Having an eye on. With some people, you could edit the life out of
Something to get a perfect take. And actually what you do is, you
Know, you lose the force that's coming from your body, you know
They're very different things. So if someone likes the original
Better, I've no judgment on them whatsoever. Hear it as it is, and
By all means not like it, but absolutely don't expect with any song
For it to be a replica of the album because that's like expecting a
Play to be exactly the same as a film. They're two different beasts