Jacobites – ROBESPIERRE’S VELVET BASEMENT
Nikki Sudden in his prime was fucking incredible. Team him up with Dave Kusworth – and you get yourself a true lost classic. Listening to the recordings these two made in the course of just two years, from 1984 to 1985, you realise this was a songwriting partnership on a par with... Name any.
Jacobites, Lost In The Sea Of Scarves and then their undisputed peak. Robespierre’s Velvet Basement. If you like it, you love it. If you don’t like it – well, I have no idea how you even discovered it. You were not supposed to. Ragged and romantic. The kind of poetry and tunes that were as relevant to mid-80s as classical architecture. Thankfully, though, we’ve become too cynical to care about relevance. Which is why there’s still hope for Robespierre’s Velvet Basement.
You often read about musicians being bitter in later life. You feel for them. Peter Perrett, Lawrence – those people had a shot. However, it would have been unreasonable for Sudden and Kusworth to be bitter. With an album like this, they had no chance. Not in 1985. Which does not really mean anything. Not when you can hear a song like "Snow White".
