The return of The Chesterfields has been a source of real listening pleasure in 2022. I don't think anyone was expecting this lot of indie-pop pioneers to be back, but with one listen to a single like "Our Songbird Has Gone", and folks were cheering this band again. New Modern Homes, the new full-length release, is out on Friday, and it's as smartly conceived and flawlessly performed as that single.
Following the death of founding member Dave Goldsworthy in 2003, The Chesterfields continued with a mix of founding members and valuable additions. The 2022 line-up is Simon Barber on bass and vocals, Rob Parry on drums, Helen Stickland on guitar and vocals, and Andy Strickland (of The Loft and The Caretaker Race) on guitar and vocals. The players are adept at navigating styles within the larger jangle-pop genre. And there's a surprising variety on New Modern Homes. "Mr. Wilson Goes to Norway" is nimble and peppy, while "Postpone the Revolution" uses the sort of gently insistent pace of a Go-Betweens number to sharp effect. Elsewhere, "Year on the Turn", with lead vocals from Helen Strickland stands as one of the many highlights here, shades of The Delgados and Emma Pollock in the swaying hooks here. Helen's vocals give this one a vulnerability that provides a nice juxtaposition to the riffs on the other, more upbeat numbers on New Modern Homes.
Where New Modern Homes really suceeds is on the tracks where the template for this kind of DIY pop is given new spark and wit. "You're Ace from Space" has a really compelling melody, one which lodges in the ear nearly instantly, while "Our Songbird Has Gone" is both a wonderful tune, but one which pays tribute to the genre by name-dropping nearly every great band in your record collection. In other hands, it might seem too clever by half, but The Chesterfields use an approach throughout New Modern Homes that's remarkably adept and nimble. "My Bed is an Island" and "Tuesday Night" burn with a bit of the fire of old Chesterfield singles, but the band in 2022 is more interested in artful complexity, where the spaces in the tracks are filled with emotions and wit.
This record is smart pop, with many a number here similar, to these ears at least, to the brand of pop that the reformed Go-Betweens pursued. Folks are older now, and concerns are different than they were decades ago, but there's a way to make all that work when composing indie-rock and this record shows exactly how it can be done. This is, perhaps, one of the most enjoyable records I've listened to so far in 2022, and it's winsome in a way that doesn't seem desperate or pandering to fans. The Chesterfields have broadened their sound in an honest way, and managed to compose songs that are just as compelling as ones they wrote in the Eighties and Nineties. The style's evolved, but their hearts are still in exactly the right place.
New Modern Homes by The Chesterfields is out on Friday.
[Photo: The Chesterfields Facebook page]