The Last Romance

The Last Romance
Studio album by Arab Strap
Released 17 October 2005 (UK)
Genre Alternative rock
Length 35:54
Label Chemikal Underground (UK)
Producer Arab Strap, Paul Savage, Geoff Allan
Arab Strap chronology
Monday at the Hug and Pint
(2003)Monday at the Hug and Pint2003		 The Last Romance
(2005)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [2]
Drowned in Sound(7/10) [3]
Mojo [4]
NME(8/10) [5]
Pitchfork Media(8.0/10) [6]
Q [7]
UNCUT(8/10) [8]

The Last Romance is the sixth studio album by Arab Strap, released on October 17, 2005 on Chemikal Underground. Upon release, vocalist Aidan Moffat stated that the album is "a lot more upbeat, but still deals with some of the darker aspects of relationships. It's like the dark side in Star Wars though – quicker, faster, more seductive."[9]

Moffat also noted his desire for the album "to be shorter, more immediate. If our previous albums could be considered "hard work", I wanted this one to be a slap in the face. I felt it was important we didn't make the same album over ten years, so this one was going to be more digestible and a lot louder."[9]

Following the album's release, Arab Strap announced that it would be their last. Moffat stated that: "there’s no animosity, no drama. We simply feel we’ve run our course. The Last Romance seems the most obvious and logical final act of the Arab Strap studio adventure. Everybody likes a happy ending."[9]

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
The Skinny Scotland Scottish Albums of the Decade 2009 25[10]

Overview

The album maintains the snide lyrical style common to Arab Strap, while adding a more optimistic tone in certain songs, such as "There Is No Ending." There are only 3 acoustic songs on this album, which has a rock-oriented sound, with influences from bands like Mogwai.

The sleeve artwork on the front contains a collage designed by Australian illustrator Rik Lee, whose previous work features many of the images seen on the sleeve artwork. The inside contains the lyrics hand-written in a notebook-style layout.

Track listing

  • All songs written by Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton.
  1. "Stink" – 2:16
  2. "(If There's) No Hope for Us" – 3:57
  3. "Chat in Amsterdam, Winter 2003" – 3:19
  4. "Don't Ask Me to Dance" – 4:00
  5. "Confessions of a Big Brother" – 3:36
  6. "Come Round and Love Me" – 2:58
  7. "Speed-Date" – 3:07
  8. "Dream Sequence" – 4:15
  9. "Fine Tuning" – 2:54
  10. "There Is No Ending" – 5:33

US copies include two extra tracks:

  1. "El Paso Song" – 3:57
  2. "Go Back to the Sea" – 3:53

Personnel

Arab Strap

Additional musicians

  • Geoff Allan - vocals ("There is No Ending")
  • Alan Barr - cello ("Stink", "Confessions of a Big Brother")
  • Barry Burns - organ ("Come Round and Love Me"), piano ("Dream Sequence")
  • David Jeans - drums ("(If There's) No Hope For Us", "Don't Ask Me to Dance", "Speed-Date", "Dream Sequence")
  • Jon McCue - vocals ("There is No Ending")
  • Nicola MacLeod - vocals ("(If There's) No Hope For Us", "Come Round and Love Me")
  • Jenny Reeve - violin ("Come Round and Love Me", "There is No Ending")
  • Andrew Savage - vocals ("There is No Ending")
  • Allan Wylie - trumpet ("Speed-Date", "There is No Ending")

Recording personnel

  • Paul Savage - recording, producer
  • Geoff Allan - recording, producer
  • Arab Strap - producer
  • Morten Bue - mastering

Artwork

  • Rik Lee - illustrations
  • Bulletproof ID - layout

References

  1. ↑ "The Last Romance Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  2. ↑ The Last Romance at AllMusic
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ November 2005, p.112
  5. ↑ November 2005, p.45
  6. ↑ Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Arab Strap: The Last Romance
  7. ↑ December 2005, p.148
  8. ↑ December 2005, p.109
  9. 1 2 3 Arab Strap Press Release
  10. ↑ The Skinny, Dec 2009, pg 10
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