Two albums today, one new, one with all the mud cleaned out from his eyes for all to see and hear and made new again…
Furii – Pyromancy (Nomark) – On the surface it might sometimes appear, or more accurately, it might sometimes feel like a lot of this is all on the same level, that we’re dealing with the same floaty dreamy textures, like there a danger of things all being just a little heard-it-all-before. Some might say it feels like that point on the map where Spratleys end and Furii start can sometimes be a little difficult to find, indeed by extension, the point where the whole Spratleys/Furii thing starts and the quieter Affectionate Friends side of Cardiacs ends can be hard to pinpoint, but that really is only on the surface, dig a little deeper, dig into the details and there are so many things going on, so much musical treasure here, so many new things, treats, delights…
“Furii (pronounced Fury) is the alias of Adrien Rodes AKA Topo Gigio, long-time member of Tim Smith’s Spratleys and sometime musician in Cardiacs’ live band” – In terms of making this new solo album, Adrien says; “I decided to treat it as a fresh experiment and see what would happen. Writing tunes knowing Jo would take them somewhere else has been a real joy. I had vocal melodies on some of the songs, and she came up with brilliant ones on others. Her take has always elevated things beyond measure.” – that right, Jo Spratley’s voice is all over this album, as is her fingerprint, we are very much in the Pond here. And if we are going to mention Cardiacs (as we surely surely must) then yes it is far more Affectionate Friends/Wireless side of Cardiacs than it is Sea Nymphs; those floaty things in the either, those different colours, those radiantly whimsical details, that Eden on the Air thing that was and always will be so beautifully life enhancing.
I am going to have to gush here, Pyromancy is a gorgeous album, Pyromancy twinkles, it glows, it catches the light in so many wonderfully unexpected ways (as well as in all the expected ways), it is indeed filled to the brim with so much delight. Precise, clever, deliciously detailed, beguiling, carefully crafted tunes, wonderful songs that do indeed “cradle Jo’s extraordinary vocal performances allowing them to bloom like a bouquet of thorny roses” – are they thorny though? Surely there’s no thorny dangers here? Nothing that’s going to catch you. Mesmerising, breathtaking, it is the details, like when you really properly look at a crow and see just how much colour there really is, when you look and just can’t stop looking (when you listen and can’t stop listening). Yes, there are tiny hints of Beatles, of Stereolab, of Vaughn Williams. Radiolaria is just a colour you haven’t seen before and Shallow coming straight after it is just… and then Wizle and well, that bit three minutes and twenty four seconds into Wizle, that is just… there are no words really, jsut go listen, you really don’t need words.
And yes, yes you can see clearly see where Spratleys end and Furii start and oh yeah. Is Permian just as perfect a pop song as you could ever wish for? (sw)
and then there’s Pony…
Tim Smith’s Spratleys – Pony (ATE Music) – And Don’t You Ail, Flash The Sea To Steam and the beauty of Sparrows for the mighty Pony beast has been remixed and reissued and all the mud cleaned out from his eyes for all to see and hear and here.
Here and now; “Pony is an album about love”, it was never a beast, it was and is a graceful pony. Originally released on Tim Smith’s own All My Eye and Betty Martin Music back in 1999, Pony was recorded in the Autumn/Winter of 1998 “at rat infested ‘Sparrow Wars’, New Forest England”, it was mostly made by Tim and Jo Spratley with what might have been a fictional band. Here’s something Tim said in 2018 after he got ill and couldn’t go play live music with Spratleys anymore…
‘Do you remember me? Of course you do. You gotta go and watch my fave group play and hear them play my fave tunes ever. So be there. Or be one of them round things wot won’t go in the square holes’ Tim xxx”
Tim really was proud of Spratleys, he would often, in private conversations, almost dismiss his Cardiacs work, or at least give the impression that he hadn’t yet achieved what he wanted to achieve with it, but oh how he glowed when it came to Spratleys and the music he made with Jo. He had this massive desire to make pop music “and it always comes out sounding like the same old shit” he’d say. He didn’t think Cardiacs music was rubbish, he knew it was good, he just gave me the idea that he thought the best was still to come, that he hadn’t painted the definate Cardiacs piece of music yet, that he was still striving for it. But he did love Pony, he did, I think, consider this some of his very best work (he’d say all these things in private conversations, he’d ask me to keep it to myself; “just saying this to you fella, not for all those beautiful Organ readers”)
I haven’t listened to Pony for ages, partly because there just never ever is time to listen to anything other than the pile of new releases all yelling and demanding words and partly because it just really is hard to listen to Tim’s work now when really it should be played with joy and played as often as possible. It is a joy listening to this again, imposible to do so without a smile.
Not that this is all Tim, this was cooked up (almost secretly) with Jo Spratley and together their musical chemistry just glows. Jo Spratley is never to be underestimated, she did a lot more than just bring out the best of Tim in these sessions and if it is pop music (it is) then it is very (very) complex clever crafted pop music made with all kinds of love, it is as fine as any Cardiacs album.
And of course listening to Cabinet again now, those eleven beautifully restrained minutes, those beautifully golden shimmers, listening to Cabinet, a piece of music what we were so lucky to have on the Affectionate Friends album, listening to it now just fills up everything with smiles, with emotion, with memories of being in the studio mastering it all. I suspect Pony times were Tim’s happiest times and all of that is here on and in these pieces that are so hard to write about and yes, this is as fine as any Cardiacs album
This is special, swim away with it all, I can’t write a review of this…
And out of it later came the band to perform the songs without Tim and sometimes, while he sat there smiling, performing for Tim. And last year to perform them again so so gloriously as we Sang For Tim (and now as a band called Spratleys, Jo’s band, here and now, here in 2026, to go on and bloom with new musical adventures and a new album that’s coming our way this Summer)
All of this is wonderful.
The last word goes to Tim as said “to the Kidz of The Pond” on Facebook IN2017;
“…Hey Assholes, it’s Tim Smith here. That’s right. That one. Just sticking my putrid head above the parapet of beautiful pop. Right. Spratleys Japs. I’m not sure how many people have heard this band but it was a groovy little outfit I got together a couple of decades back. There came from it an album which was and still is my favourite tunes full of mischief… See them live and witness something you will never forget. They completely knocked my block off…”
Yes, these are still is my favourite tunes as well, Pony is special. (sw)
Pony is remixed or remastered and in clearer artwork and out now on Jo and Bic’s new label ATE Music. There is NOTHING better than listening to Don’t You Ail very loudly when you need to…
And here, from the new Spratley’s album Bloom….
Previously
THE ORGAN 