European Sun – When Britain Was Great [IMPORT Red Vinyl] - New LP

It is true of Steve Miles’ lyrics. Nostalgia for an imagined past where men were men, and racism was de rigeur is eviscerated in title track When Britain Was Great. Fetishisation of a World War by patriots who are too pumped up to realise the war was a fight against Nazism is picked apart in Angels In The Clouds. And the clumsy, half-arsed struggle to seek something better, to try to escape the trap of cynical acceptance of it all, is sardonically observed in the comically accident-prone Falling Down The Stairs With Arthur Seaton.

All this is interspersed with deeply personal tracks like The Space She Left, unflinchingly exposing emotional vulnerability and anxiety, and with carefree pop songs, still able to access the wide-eyed wisdom of childhood: The Sea Is A Pirate’s Best Friend expresses a kind of joy that we all had once, but have lost contact with.