音樂是這世界上最美好的事

旅行的樂趣也在於回國後的連結感。例如剛去完義大利的同事指著雜誌上的「義大利風景」（說實在我也不曉得那是哪）說「去過！」「去過！」...的機車語調。例如現在看到這是曼徹斯特樂團、這是利物浦Singer、這是蘇格蘭樂隊...總是有莫名的親切感。例如聽Kathyn Williams會不時想起利物浦有趣的現代大教堂（Liverpool Cathedral），聽以倫敦為基底的The Clientele，也會想起倫敦的一切。The Clientele的2007新輯《God Save the Clientele》溫暖的聲音，準確的把倫敦難得的陽光灑在千禧橋（Millennium Bridge）上，雖然有點風、又有點快要下雨的樣子。

The Clientele目前由主唱兼吉他手Alasdair MacLean、鼓手Mark Keen、貝斯手James Hornsey、弦樂加鍵盤手Mel Draisey組成，前身為The Butterfly Collectors，散團後於1997年重組，集結數張EP的專輯《Suburban Light》(2000)、正式專輯《The Violet Hour》(2003)皆走叫好不叫座的路線，2005年的《Strange Geometry》終於有些成績，Louis Philippe的弦樂編寫醉人，其中我非常喜歡的一首〈(I Can't Seem to) Make You Mine〉還被收錄在隔年的電影《The Lake House》（跳越時空的情書）為片頭曲，讓我對這部片好感大增。



The Clientele的音樂非常Dreamy，使用大量迴音效果，總讓我聯想起Mojave 3，將自己包裹在室外的靜夜或一片和煦陽光之中。《God Save the Clientele》邀請Lambchop的Mark Nevers擔綱製作，並由Louis Philippe再度編寫弦樂，加入了新成員Mel Draisey，曲子依舊溫暖，是聽了心頭盈滿泛黃顏色的音樂。

第一首〈Here Comes the Phantom〉就要把你載往幻覺般的回憶，主唱MacLean訴說一個關於夏天等待樹葉的故事，饒富詩意的歌詞，甜甜又微微的憂傷，特別喜歡「My heart is playing like a violin」一句，讓我想起最接近人類聲音的樂器就是弦樂這件事，有趣的比擬。

接著〈I Hope I Know You〉、〈Isn't Life Strange?〉...一首首聽下來，溫暖的感覺從未消失，前幾張專輯的氛圍一一被喚回，〈The Queen of Seville〉鋪陳零星鋼琴聲，唱著「It's gonna be a lonely lonely day」的心碎亦是如〈Make You Mine〉的極度傷感。曲末〈Dreams of Leaving〉唱畢，濃重的寂寞旋律還在耳邊響，突然想走出這黏度甚高的夏季，往繽紛的落葉走去。

依稀記得是在AMG查Camera Obscura或The Owls、根據Similar Artist選單才查到的團，竟是07年來難得令人念念不忘的聲音。（註：Camera Obscura已於去年與The Clientele同廠牌Merge發行〈Let's Get Out of This Country〉，The Owls更即將睽違三年發行新輯，真是期待！）



The Clientele / Here Comes the Phantom

April in my mind, but I can't sleep
So I take a walk under the trees
What did I see? Summer waits the leaves
As lovely as I've ever known
Happiness just comes and goes

My heart is playing like a violin
Sunday, and she called again
Now where can I go?
Somewhere the wind don't blow me back into the conversations
Promises and situations, yeah
It's all constant, in the air.

The phantom finds you cryin' in the streets
Lonely cops pick flowers on their beats
And what do they see? Summer waits in the leaves
As lovely as they've ever known
Happiness just comes and goes

My heart is playing like a violin
Sunday and she called again
All of the dreams that you dream
I hope that they are all of me
I hope that they are all of me

It's the phantom
Here comes the phantom


歌詞來源
圖片來源：The Clientele官網
The Clientele：MySpace
關於The Clientele的舊文