When Aldous Huxley took mescaline, it was the sense of infinite detail that overwhelmed him and as he looked down at the folds of his trousers he remarked what a labyrinth of endlessly significant complexity. Listening to Steven Lindsay’s Kite has a similar effect layer upon layer of reality is exposed and one is left with a world of ideas and unrealised dreams. Lindsay uses delicate string and horn arrangements and the minimum of instrumentation to create a stunning musical landscape but it is the inner beauty of his sublime, distinctive drool of a voice that makes Kite such a special treat. Pitch perfect but never predictable, Lindsay’s traffic-stopping larynx appears to be in full flight when he apocalyptically intones ‘Nobody wants to take the reins or take the blame/ You turn on the TV and the news is all the same/Could somebody close their eyes and make it go away - tonight/You might as well fly a kite and sail up to the moon’ and you think, hell, why not, we can all but dream. Kite is emblematic of the album that bears its name: it touches on the uber-realities of 21st Century life, it reassesses the importance of precious, personal relationships and it highlights the societal unease of a brave new world that’s lost it’s way. But there is a paradox at the heart of this; Kite hankers for a time when things were worth fighting for whilst acknowledging that we may have finally lost track of our ideals.
Ultimately, it may be the last song you’ll hear as the floods take us all.
Lindsay will be digitally releasing a new mix of Kite on September 10th. The song will be bundled with a new track simply called Inertia. Lindsay has also announced that he will be appearing at the Connect Festival which will be held in the stunning grounds of Inveraray Castle on the banks of one of Scotland’s most beautiful lochs, Loch Fyne, Argyll.
The Festival runs from Friday 31st August to Sunday 2nd September 2007 and includes performance by Lindsay, Bjork, Beastie Boys, Primal Scream, Big Star and Teenage Fanclub.