Mid Air is an extraordinarily intimate record, its spare piano and vocal-based arrangements unfurling at a meditative pace. Thirteen of its fourteen tracks are less than three minutes long, but rest assured all life is here. Buchanan's beautifully bruised voice remains a faithful conduit of all things emotive, and Mid Air was written from a place of humility and wee-small-hours contemplation. Says Paul: "i think if i'd tried to make a record that sounds like the band i'd be quite nervous, but this is more of a record-ette. it's quite small in stature and the songs are very brief, but don't get me wrong - it kept me awake at night."
Buchanan also concedes that, in some ways, he is "continually re-writing the same song", chipping away at the themes that have absorbed him from day one. 'far above the chimney tops / take me where the bus don't stop" he sings here on 'My True Country'. Naturally, such starry-eyed sentiments will chime with fans of the Blue Nile's charmed 1983 debut, A Walk Across the Rooftops. At root, these beautifully smudged miniatures represent a still more potent distillation of all that has made Buchanan's past work so special. Mid Air - his little 'record-ette' as he calls it - is wonderfully big of heart.
A1 Mid Air
A2 Half The World
A3 Cars In The Garden
A4 Newsroom
A5 I Remember You
A6 Buy A Motor Car
A7 Wedding Party
B1 Two Children
B2 Summer's On Its Way
B3 My True Country
B4 A Movie Magazine
B5 Tuesday
B6 Fin De Siècle
B7 After Dark
C1 Have You Ever Been Lonely?
C2 My True Country (Piano)
C3 After Dark (Instrumental)
C4 Two Children (Piano)
C5 Lost
D1 Tuesday (Instrumental)
D2 Half The World
D3 A Movie Magazine (Instrumental)
D4 Mid Air
D5 God Is Laughing
D6 Buy A Motor Car (Elegance Mix)
D7 Half The World (Live)
Buchanan also concedes that, in some ways, he is "continually re-writing the same song", chipping away at the themes that have absorbed him from day one. 'far above the chimney tops / take me where the bus don't stop" he sings here on 'My True Country'. Naturally, such starry-eyed sentiments will chime with fans of the Blue Nile's charmed 1983 debut, A Walk Across the Rooftops. At root, these beautifully smudged miniatures represent a still more potent distillation of all that has made Buchanan's past work so special. Mid Air - his little 'record-ette' as he calls it - is wonderfully big of heart.
A1 Mid Air
A2 Half The World
A3 Cars In The Garden
A4 Newsroom
A5 I Remember You
A6 Buy A Motor Car
A7 Wedding Party
B1 Two Children
B2 Summer's On Its Way
B3 My True Country
B4 A Movie Magazine
B5 Tuesday
B6 Fin De Siècle
B7 After Dark
C1 Have You Ever Been Lonely?
C2 My True Country (Piano)
C3 After Dark (Instrumental)
C4 Two Children (Piano)
C5 Lost
D1 Tuesday (Instrumental)
D2 Half The World
D3 A Movie Magazine (Instrumental)
D4 Mid Air
D5 God Is Laughing
D6 Buy A Motor Car (Elegance Mix)
D7 Half The World (Live)