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Waltz of the Weekend

by Soft Hearted Scientists

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motorpsychonaut
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motorpsychonaut It's taken me a while to listen to the complete album in one sitting, finally manged it today and It is fanastic, a good mix of shorter hook laden songs and longer trippier tracks. Hopefully they can find the finances to come up to Glasgow for a gig. Favorite track: The Things We Make.
Rebsie Fairholm
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Rebsie Fairholm The signature sound of Soft Hearted Scientists is a sparky neo-psychedelia with clever and funny lyrics, and this new album is bang on form. Rode My Bike shows how a crap bike ride can be elevated to the status of brilliant art. Superb songwriting and production all round. Favorite track: Rode My Bike.
cherrinom8re
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cherrinom8re Waltz of the Weekend is nothing less than a pearl: the great attention to voices, effects and tiny detail makes it a record to be listened to over and over again. It is not everyday's business to be able to listen to something magnific tens of times as if it was the first time. There is always something new to find out in the depths of the gentle and yet crepuscolar atmosphere this album will put you into. One of the best things I listened to here on Bandcamp. Do yourself a favour: don't miss it Favorite track: The Things We Make.
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  • Streaming + Download

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    A double album on a single disc, retailing at the price of a single album. Housed in a lovely, if slightly terrifying HP Lovecraft and Arthur Machen influenced cover.

    One signed lyric sheet included.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waltz of the Weekend via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    edition of 250 
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    The CD album plus
    1)3 lyric sheets signed by Nathan Hall
    2)2 Mixing Session Studio Worksheets
    3)Plectrum
    4)Fortune Teller Fish
    5)CDR with 4 instrumental versions of album tracks
    All housed in a stickered plastic wallet

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waltz of the Weekend via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    edition of 100 
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    The brand new CD album "Waltz of the Weekend", together with

    *CD with 3 demos from the LONG list of potential songs for the next album - which may grow beyond recognition when the rest of the band play on them and Frank the Wizard Producer is at the desk - you can speculate and try and predict how much they will grow (bearing in mind the 8 minute epic track "Who Loves the Moon?" on Waltz of the Weekend started off as a 2 minute sketch that I wasn't that confident about!)

    *4 lyrics sheets from Waltz of the Weekend

    *Copies of various doodles/cartoons done in the studio in break times

    *Odyssey of Waltz of the Weekend - a typed up explanation of how the album came to be made and the obstacles put in its path by fate and how the long delay in finishing the album actually made it a stronger album

    *2 prose sheets

    *Copy of a studio worksheet

    *A fortune teller fish

    *All contained in a plastic wallet

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waltz of the Weekend via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
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    edition of 50 
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Waltz of the Weekend CD
    Vicious Vivian/Who Loves the Moon radio promotional CD
    SHS badge
    Signed Lyric sheet
    Plectrum

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    edition of 18 
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  • "I took a trip with the Soft Hearted Scientists" T Shirt - 42 first run copies for sale
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    Yellow Logo, White slogan, Black Cotton T Shirt (Fruit of the Loom)

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  • SUPER LIMITED EDITION OF THE LAST 10 FRUITS DE MER LATHE CUT SINGLE PACKS. THERE WILL BE NO MORE.
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    1)Waltz of the Weekend CD
    2)Radio Promotional CD of "What Grows Inside the Garden?"
    3)Bonus Disc 1 of 4 instrumental versions of songs from the album
    4)Bonus Disc 3 of 3 demos of songs from "Waltz of the Weekend"
    5)Bonus Disc 2 of 3 demos of new songs which may go on the next album
    6)Fruits De Mer super limited lathe cut 7" single of "The Fixer" backed by "Rode My Bike"
    7)4 signed lyric sheets
    8)Plectrum
    9)Odyssey of Waltz of the Weekend - an overview of how the album was made
    10)Copies of 2 studio worksheets
    11)Copies of various doodles/cartoons done in the studio in break times
    12)A fortune teller fish

    All housed in a Plastic Wallet

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  • Super Limited Edition of 3 sets
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Waltz of the Weekend CD album plus
    *Radio Promo CD of "What Grows Inside the Garden?"
    *CD of 4 instrumental versions of album tracks
    *Fruits De Mer double CD of 25 tracks by various artists, including "Sea Anemone Song" from Waltz of the Weekend
    *2 signed lyric sheets
    *Plectrum
    *Little aeroplane
    *Plastic Wallet

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waltz of the Weekend via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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  • SUPER LIMITED EDITION OF ONE SET OF VINYL AND CDS!
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    The entire 8 album back catalogue of Soft Hearted Scientists PLUS
    Fruits de Mer double coloured VINYL plus 7" EP "Whatever Happened to the Soft Hearted Scientists"
    Fruits de Mer clear VINYL lathe cut single of "The Fixer"/"Rode My Bike"
    Fruits de Mer double CD version of "Whatever Happened to the Soft Hearted Scientists"
    Radio Promotional CD of 2 tracks from Waltz of the Weekend
    CD of 4 instrumental versions of tracks from Waltz of the Weekend
    4 signed lyric sheets
    1 copy of a studio mixing tweak checklist for Waltz of the Weekend
    The Making of Waltz of the Weekend
    Plectrum

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waltz of the Weekend via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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  • Super Limited Edition of 1 Vinyl Singles pack! Highly Collectible.
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Fruits de Mer imprint Regal Crabmophone 7" single of "Please Read Me"/"Moths Mistook us for the Moon"

    Fruits de Mer imprint Friends of the Fish 7" LATHE CUT single of "The Fixer"/Rode My Bike"

    Friends of the Fish/Country Mile joint release LATHE CUT single "Rode My Bike"/What Grows Inside the Garden"

    3 signed lyric sheets

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    Download of the album "Waltz of the Weekend"

    Tarot card

    Small packet of Mystery Seeds

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waltz of the Weekend via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Limited Edition of 6 Dr Sardonicus Psych Festival sets!
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    *Waltz of the Weekend CD
    *Vinyl lookalike CDR of the 11 songs we played at the festival (the super quality STUDIO versions!)
    *Setlist signed by Nathan Hall
    *Festival Poster signed by Nathan Hall
    *Plectrum

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waltz of the Weekend via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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  • WALTZ OF THE WEEKEND TRIPLE TEST PRESSINGS SET OF 1!
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Triple vinyl test pressings of Waltz of the Weekend
    Double Fruits de Mer Promotional CDs
    A2 poster

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waltz of the Weekend via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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  • Limited Edition of 13 Vinyl Singles
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    7" vinyl single of Please Read Me/Moths Mistook us for the Moon released on the Fruits de Mer imprint Regal Crabmophone

    Soft Hearted Scientists badge

    Signed lyric sheet

    Download of the album "Waltz of the Weekend"

    Small packet of Mystery Seeds

    Includes unlimited streaming of Waltz of the Weekend via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.
What Grows Inside the Garden? You and I are drinking wine And staring at the garden There's history in all we see It grows inside the garden Fuchsia lanterns Exquisite passion flowers 5 hens cluck contentedly A waterfall That threads through all my thoughts And strange leaves near the strawberries Chorus The giant ferns And orange lily blooms Quiver in the evening breeze The sun descends The moon comes out to play With bottles guaranteed to please Chorus (Berserk middle section) Garden (Garden) Chorus
2.
The Waltz of the Weekend The River Wye had so much mud in her eyes The little churchyard with sleepers inside October is cruel but this day it smiled The flaming tree said it’s a good place to hide Chorus The Waltz of the Weekend Is some time away But the rules can be broken on holiday If you listen carefully You can hear murmurs And you start to sway Mysterious houses, nobody inside The wooden man's gone, he was there I don't lie Sometimes there is music That floats in the night It helps to see things in an enchanted light The Waltz of the Weekend Is some time away But the rules can be broken on holiday If you listen carefully You can hear murmurs And you start to sway (Tintern Abbey Ghost Monks Visitations in Cardiff Middle Section) I’ve seen the Tombs of Tremorfa The Sphinxes of Splott I’ve seen the Witches of Whitchurch I like them a lot I’ve seen the Gorgons of Grangetown But I looked away I see the Harpies of Habershon Street Every day Chorus
3.
Sea Anemone Song There's gold in them there shining hills There's silver in them big windmills There's diamonds in the old pine trees There's rubies in the seven seas There's emeralds in the green mountains There's platinum in town fountains There's sapphires in growling volcanoes There's amber where the sunflower grows Prize winning paws and household chores Domestic hurricanes settling scores Sea anemones insect enemies Stargaze night then bacterial calamity Prize winning paws and household chores Domestic hurricanes settling scores 12 string serenade sounds like lemonade One fire grows as another fire fades There's zircon in the August breeze There's moonstone in the apple trees There's quartz in every trickling stream There's amethysts in every dream There's jade in words my lover sings There's pearls in everything she brings Chorus Sea Anemone, Sea Anemone Sea Anemone, Sea Anemone
4.
Rode My Bike 03:54
Rode My Bike I rode my bike right through the woods The sun was smiling and I felt good Then I came to a gate that was locked and high So I turned around with a frustrated sigh Then I rode my bike around the town But I soon got tired of the sights and sounds So I rode my bike right up the hill But the effort made me feel quite ill (Bitter chorus) No red carpet No parade No key to the city No big band played No confetti No welcome back No bronze statue No blue plaque I don't need Any of that junk I am what I am A lifelong punk So I freewheeled down and followed a hunch To pedal back home and eat my lunch Now the obvious moral of this tale Is don't blindly set off on a trail My unplanned trip went badly wrong And the only good outcome was this song Yeah my unplanned trip went badly wrong And the only good outcome was this song Bitter Chorus (Defiant Daydream sequence) Yegods! I will ride another day Gadzooks! Won’t you come on out to play We could beat the odds And be welcomed home as gods And the world can kiss our backsides either way (One last bitter Chorus) (Slightly more optimistic outro) I rode my bike and it didn’t go my way Yeah I rode my bike And I hope for a better ride some other day
5.
Gadzooks! 03:36
Gadzooks! Yegods! I will ride another day Gadzooks! Won’t you come on out to play We could beat the odds And be welcomed home as gods And the world can kiss our backsides either way
6.
Who Loves the Moon? Who loves the moon? I sit beneath a satin sky And thing of you tonight Where are you? How are you? And who is by your side? Who loves the moon? Who loves the moon? I walk beneath regretful skies And grieve for us again Mistakes I made Your face won’t fade I float down memory lane Who loves the moon? Who loves the moon? (Haunted middle section) This lunar love song floats up Into the night It orbits around the world Like a haunted satellite If you should gaze up You may hear it and know I can’t let memories of you go Looking at the moon Looking at the big old moon Looking at the moon And thinking that our love was gone too soon The moon’s looking down He winces and frowns As people let precious things die Our love didn’t last It’s part of the past But I still see us walk Hand in hand in the sky Everything goes on under the moon Whether you’re low or over the moon Everything goes on under the moon
7.
The Fixer 03:46
THE FIXER Right wing views And an atom bomb disposition Suddenly he disappeared But I'm above suspicion I solve your little problems For a very modest fee Taking out the human garbage To be honest I would do it for free ‘Cause I'm The Fixer I'm the Fixer I make problems go away ‘Cause I’m The Fixer I'm the fixer I can brighten up your day He liked to drink Then beat his child and wife But he couldn't do that When I cut short his life I solve your little problems For a very modest fee Taking out the human garbage To be honest I would do it for free ‘Cause I'm The Fixer I'm the Fixer I make problems go away ‘Cause I’m The Fixer I'm the fixer I can brighten up your day Fixer! Fixer! Here I am! I'll disappear your evil man! (Instrumental CARNAGE) Chorus
8.
THE THINGS WE MAKE The things we make You cannot see Because they're made Of melody They can't be eaten Or be worn The things we make You cannot touch But that doesn't mean They don't mean much Because they can help To keep you warm We didn’t dare walk through the woods that night The leaves were heavy with electricity Dark green tongues were whispering In an ancient language The things we make You cannot see Because they're made Of melody They can't be eaten Or be worn The things we make You cannot touch But that doesn't mean They don't mean much Because they can help To keep you warm We were like frightened young children And did not know how to answer them We gazed into the trees holding hands Shivered and walked on Chorus All the little things, all the little things All the little things for you The things we make, the things we make The things we make for you
9.
VICIOUS VIVIAN This is Vicious Vivian She's killing me in stages She looks me up and down and laughs Then drinks away our wages “Hee haw” she mockingly exclaims And tosses me a carrot “Hee haw” she laughingly repeats Like a cruel satanic parrot I can't help this doomed attraction I’m a martyr to my heart She knows I'm weak She's made of teak I'm the mule that pulls her cart “Hee haw” she mockingly exclaims And tosses me a carrot “Hee haw” she laughingly repeats Like a cruel satanic parrot One day she will grow to love me Or I'll pack up and vacate And shack up with Nasty Nancy With a halter on her gate “Hee haw” she mockingly exclaims And tosses me a carrot “Hee haw” she laughingly repeats Like a cruel satanic parrot
10.
CREEPERS AND VINES Creepers and vines Creepers and vines Wrap tendrils around me And force down the wine They lift me above life I see it all so clearly Crash land in the morning And pay for it dearly (Middle section) Golden palaces appear Pretty apparitions In the morning they reveal Themselves as bad decisions Doomed to repetition (End Section) Time goes fast You have another glass Before you know it You’ll be living in the past
11.
THE VENUS FLYTRAP SONG The jury gave me the evil eye I knew they were desperate to hang me high My mood collapsed and I lost all hope When the Foreman smiled and caressed a rope The court was a Venus Fly Trap I was a helpless fly The system's jaws were closing fast But I refused to die The Judge had an Easter Island frown Then grinned at me like an evil clown The witnesses lied and they winked at me And the journalists typed up my obituary The court was a Venus Fly Trap I was a helpless fly The system's jaws were closing fast But I refused to die The public at the back were wild and drunk And I knew the justice system stunk I knew which way the trial would go “Hang him!” So I jumped out the bathroom window The court was a Venus Fly Trap I was a helpless fly The system's jaws were closing fast But I refused to die (Middle Section) I want to fight another day That means that I must get away I want to fight Don’t turn out the light I want to fight another day I boarded a boat bound for Uruguay And robbed them of the joy of watching me die The Hangman howled and he cursed and raved And my friends laid Flytraps On his unmarked grave The court was a Venus Fly Trap, I was a helpless fly The system's jaws were closing fast But I refused to die
12.
LOST MARINERS Lost mariners Far from home, far from home Watery graves Beneath the waves Sunk by a storm So far from home No fields of green No sunlight there No singing birds Or those that care Lost mariners Far from home, far from home (The Lost Mariners' Lament) It is so cold down here 200 years or more It is so cold down here It is so cold down here 200 years or more Please bring us home Please bring us home When we set sail we were just young men We didn’t know we’d never see Britain again We had the sun on our faces And the world in our eyes When we set sail were just young men We didn’t know we’d never see our families again We saw some beautiful places But paid a terrible price

about

AT LAST! THE RETURN OF THE SOFT HEARTED SCIENTISTS!
After quite a long hiatus, not helped by a global pandemic and various unpleasant life events, the Scientists at last return with their biggest and most ambitious studio album yet!

It’s a 75 minute double album wild beast crammed on to a single CD to keep the cost to an outrageous £9.99 for the standard CD.

It features 12 tracks.

Four of these are compact radio friendly psychedelic pop singles with huge choruses. They are “What Grows Inside the Garden?”, “Rode My Bike”, “The Fixer” and “Vicious Vivian”. Each one is stuffed to the eyeballs with vocal and instrumental hooks that take several listens to become fully apparent.

But there are also many tracks that stretch out and enter new territory.
“Waltz of the Weekend” is a psychedelic waltz inspired by a daytrip to Tintern Abbey. It features an outrageously over the top haunted middle section that sounds like Bohemian Rhapsody performed by ghost monks, with Hank Marvin playing surf guitar in another dimension.

“Sea Anemone Song” is a huge heartbroken psych ballad, channelling a lot of the awful things that have happened in the last 3 years, with an end section that gradually disintegrates on an asteroid belt.

“Gadzooks!” is the coda to “Rode My Bike” and starts out as a psych rumble that gets progressively more insane, featuring a sly echo vocal nod to Bowie’s “The Bewlay Brothers”, crazed guitars, a string section, speaking in tongues and an ending FAR more over the top than a Bond theme.

“Who Loves The Moon?” is SHS guitarist Paul’s favourite song EVER by SHS. It’s a multi layered lament to lost love with a haunted, ancient, Disney/Night of the Hunter movie feel, and SEVEN vocal tunes. Cashback!

“The Things We Make” starts as a psychedelic ballad about musical creativity itself, but with verses recounting a haunted evening in North Wales many years ago. Halfway through it falls apart after being hijacked by the ghosts of King Tubby and Lee Scratch Perry and becomes an echo laden effects laden dub.

“Creepers and Vines” is a tongue in cheek “I’ll never get intoxicated again” hangover song that again transforms halfway through into a series of transitions, sections and sound events that might have your head spinning even without intoxicants.

“The Venus Flytrap Song” is a full on story song in which Nathan is unjustly on trial for an unspecified crime, but escape the clutches of a corrupt judge, jury and hangman baying for his blood. It is the most symmetrical song we have ever written. With added ELO vocoders!

Lastly, the longest and perhaps most ambitious song we have ever released. “Lost Mariners” is an 11 minute psychedelic seafaring ghost story sound journey epic, featuring an enormous amount of sound effects, sound events, San Francisco acid rock guitar solos, transitions, and a symphony of analogue synths at the end, hinting at the horror of haunting the seabed.

Frank Naughton produced the album and quite honestly he is a polymath and genius. He even invented some of the special effects on this album.

INCREDIBLE REVIEW BY MIND DECODER BLOG 21ST MAY 2023
At last! The return of the Soft Hearted Scientists! It’s been three years since we last heard from Cardiff’s cult psychedelic troubadours, and seven years since the release of their last album proper, but this month sees the Scientists return with WALTZ OF THE WEEKEND, their biggest and most ambitious studio album yet.

It’s an album swollen with ambition, and bursting at the seams with inspiration. Clearly the Covid lockdown, however inconvenient, (and I, for one, loved it), has left the band chomping at the bit, bursting with three years’ worth of songs, melodies and other creative impulses to get out of their system. And what a torrent of creativity came gushing forth – we all know lead vocalist Nathan Hall is never short of an idea for a good tune, but this album seems to have brought the best out in everyone. Twelve tracks, crammed with eclectic instrumentation, radio friendly kaleidoscopic pop songs, heartbroken ballads and innovative experimentation, packed onto a single CD with a 75 minute running time – truly, our cup runneth over.

Opening track What Grows Inside the Garden enjoys the same dizzying pop-art dissonance of The Byrds’ Artificial Energy, an apt reference because this is a song that clearly belongs in 1967. Likewise, the title track, a psychedelic waltz inspired by a day trip to Tintern Abbey, is as trippy as anything you’ll find on A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS. Given that I’m name-dropping reference points here, the glorious Rode My Bike put me in mind of The Dukes Of Stratosphears’ manically inventive 25 O’CLOCK album – none of this is to say that anything on this album is derivative, rather, this is an album that can hold its own alongside these classic psychedelic recordings. If you’re a fan of psychedelic music - and, let’s face it, you’re reading this on the Mind De-Coder blogsite - then this is an album that will satisfy that particularly lysergic itch, and you'll be tapping your foot along to it too.

The credit must be shared with producer Frank Naughton, whose wizardry in the studio gives the songs space to breathe so that they never feel cluttered, despite the sheer variety of instruments the’ve managed to lay their hands on – string sections, harpsichords, broken-down pianos, kitchen sinks, and what sounded like an oud, sitars and quite likely a lot more, are all employed to give the songs colour, but they never dominate or feel used just for the sake of it. In fact, the studio is deployed as one more instrument in their sonic arsenal. When Sea Anemone Song, which starts off life as a slightly plaintive ballad disappears into the K-hole, you actually feel as if you’re floating off into space with it. Elsewhere The Things We Make becomes consumed with a dub-laden expansiveness, and Creepers and Vines transforms halfway through into a series of mind-bending transitions, sections, and sound events that will leave your head spinning, while the eleven-minute Lost Mariners is nothing less than a psychedelic odyssey.

The lyrics are cryptically opaque but there’s usually a line or two that tumble forth from the firmament of surreal wordplay which you can clutch to your heart. My current fave: You and I are drinking wine and staring at the garden, appears to be speaking to me on several levels. In fact, I feel as if the whole album has a multitude of layers that will only be revealed upon repeated listens - melodic excursions, exotic instrumentation, a clever bass line, a production trick, a stumbled-upon lyric, an experimental flourish, an on-the-note percussive embellishment - it will take some time to take in the sheer gleeful inventiveness the Soft Hearted Scientists have brought to the table.

It’s hard to pick a favourite track when so much is on offer, but Gadzooks! delivers a bar-room piano that might have been stolen from the end of Tomorrow Never Knows, and otherwise sounds like the semi-legendary and regrettably short-lived psychedelic group (the aptly named) Tintern Abbey having a go at I Am The Walrus - it’s that good. Once again, I’m not making comparisons, but making the case that WALTZ OF THE WEEKEND is as good as those classic psychedelic recordings I really like and rate.

So, from the top: THE NOTORIOUS BYRD BROTHERS, A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS, 25 O’CLOCK, Tomorrow Never Knows, Bee-Side/Vacuum Cleaner, WALTZ OF THE WEEKEND…they all belong on the same list.

Mind blown.

REVIEW IN TERRASCOPE JULY 2023

SOFT HEARTED SCIENTISTS – WALTZ OF THE WEEKEND

Hip Replacement Records

CD/DL softheartedscientists4.bandcamp.com

Nathan Hall’s Soft Hearted Scientists make a welcome return; Nathan has been playing with his Sinister Local’s as of late. After 2016’s ‘Golden Omens’, Nathan appeared to have put the band to bed, but luckily for us they sail again. He recorded seven albums from 2017 until last year’s Golden Fleece as Nathan Hall And The Sinister Locals.

The Scientists consist of Michael Bailey – bass, Paul Jones – electric and acoustic guitars plus backing vocals, Dylan Line – keyboards, electronics and sound effects with Nathan - lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, electronics and sound effects, with Spencer Segelov – drums on half the tracks and producer Frank Naughton playing drums on the other half, Frank also invented some of the special effects on the album.

Waltz Of The Weekend is deliciously lengthy, 72 minutes on a single 12 track disc, with four tailor made compact radio friendly psychedelic pop singles, one of which ‘What Grows In The Garden’, opens the record in fine style, all heavenly harmonies and swirling synths. The title track arrives draped in languid sitar and reverb, Nathan says of this track “it’s a psychedelic waltz inspired by a trip to Tintern Abbey. It features an outrageously over the top haunted middle section that sounds like it Bohemian Rhapsody performed by ghost monks, with Hank Marvin playing surf guitar in another dimension”.

‘Sea Anemone Song’, starts off sprightly enough, but the subject of domestic gloom waylays it, the song gradually disintegrates towards the final stages, breaking up into the ether. Another of those short, sharp psychedelic pop songs is up next, ‘Rode My Bike’, it’s terrific fun, clever, multi layered and as made as a box of frogs, the following ‘Gadzooks’, utilises a lot of the same lyrics as Bike, but sets them to a completely different melody, strings and some crazy lead guitar are prominent, a similar melody to ‘The Witch’ on Mark Fry’s classic album Dreaming with Alice, is playing merrily away, somewhere in the distance.

‘Who Loves The Moon’, is brilliant, classic SHS, a yearning, multi layered mini symphony, a lament to lost love. After a brief intermission, ‘The Fixer’ arrives and is the third of our four tailor-made, radio friendly, psychedelic pop songs. ‘The Things We Make’, is a musical ballad about musical creativity, it tells of a haunted evening in Wales, many years ago, the song appears to have been abducted by the ghost of Lee Scratch Perry halfway through, resulting in some echo laden effects dub. ‘Vicious Vivian’, is the remainder of our psych pop nuggets, stuffed to the gills with vocal and instrumental hooks. ‘Creepers And Vines’, is another gem of a song, seven minutes of drifty, languid sounds, it’s clever and playful, a series of lovely, gentle melodies, twinkle away.

’Venus Fly Trap’, which follows, is also seven minutes long, a nightmare of Nathan’s imagination , in which he is on trial, faced with a corrupt judge, jury and hangman, all eagerly vying for his blood, it’s quirky and has a queasy melody. We arrive at the end of album with possibly the longest and ambitious song that the band has recorded/released, ‘Lost Mariners’, an eleven minute psychedelic seafaring song, complete with San Francisco acid rock guitar solos, plenty of sound effects and oodles of analogue synth towards its conclusion, lost in the sea mists and far from home, a watery grave on a haunted seabed.

This is a fabulous album; it’s inventive, clever and extremely listenable.

(Andrew Young)

BUYER REVIEWS****************

RICK DENNIS
Not since September 1973 can I remember eagerly awaiting the release of an album and being overjoyed to find that it exceeded my expectations by so much.Then it was Selling England by the pound by my favourite band of the time, Genesis. An album which got better with repeated listenings and managed to stay with me and still be played 50 years on. Now it's Waltz of the Weekend by my now favourite band the Soft Hearted Scientists. The instant impression upon first playing was "How wonderful to hear new music from the band " and repeated plays have found me having a new favourite track each time. It is going to take ( and get ) many more plays and many more discoveries of music to make the world a better place. John Peel once said of Belle and Sebastian that they had finally released a hidden muscularity in their music and SHS have done the same on this album. With all the nonsense going on in the world treat yourself to time in a better place with this album and then if you haven't already, go back and listen to their other works.

MARC HEWSON
This is fast becoming my flavourite SHS record. There's so much on it that it took a while to sink in but now I find myself humming the tunes as I go about my daily chores. It certailnly cheers up a humdrum day! Best listened to on headphones to capture all the nuances.One of the best albums of 2023 so far.

PIERRECAMEMBERT
Love it!! I was so excited to hear there was a new album coming. I ordered right away and last night in the garden with a glass of wine i got to listen to the majesty of it all. The little nods and winks to the past and whit are all still there. The production is wonderful and brings out all the instruments

BARRIEBLUEBIRD
I was astonished, thrilled and disgruntled to see last week, purely by chance on a ramble through Bandcamp, that SHS had returned from limbo with this new album. The disgruntlement came from having missed all the material Nathan had brought out into the world over the last few years, but l can get to that again....l bought WotW straightaway, and the astonishment and thrills remained; it was grand to hear that the band sound just like they always did, only more so....a perfect time of the year for such a summery-sounding collection, which, as promised, gets better the more one listens to it.

credits

released May 16, 2023

Soft Hearted Scientists are

Michael Bailey – bass guitar

Paul Jones – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals

Dylan Line – keyboards, electronics, sound effects

Nathan Hall – Lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, electronics, sound effects

Drums on tracks 1, 2, 3, 7 and 12 by Spencer Segelov

Drums on tracks 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 by Frank Naughton

Produced by Frank Naughton at Ty Drwg Studios in Cardiff

Mastered by Gaz Williams in Bristol

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Soft Hearted Scientists Cardiff, UK

A Cardiff based psychedelic collective with 4 core members and 2 floating members. We blend all sorts of guitars, vintage synths and organs, electronics and sound effects, real drums, percussion, (including household items) and electronic beats. The lyrics are sometimes cryptic and surreal but always grounded in reality. "Waltz of the Weekend" is our 8th and most ambitious album to date. ... more

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