Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift - Love Is a Drag - Non-Album Tracks (2016)

Starting around 2014, and continuing until now, Robyn Hitchcock began collaborating with Emma Swift, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter who has only released an EP of her own so far. Their collaboration is curiously limited, though. Typically, she'll show up at his concert and sing in harmony for two or three songs. But that's it. I haven't seen any instances of her singing all the way through a concert (like Sean Nelson did in the Hitchcock concert I just posted yesterday).

When it comes to studio recordings, their collaboration has also been curiously limited. They jointly released a single in 2015, and then another one in 2016... and that's it. I'm hopeful they'll put out a full album together eventually, because I always like the sound of male and female voices in harmony. But in the meantime, I've created an album of what they might have released in 2016, if they'd done a whole album instead of just two singles.

Naturally, I started with both sides of their two singles. But how would I fill out the rest to make it a full album? I had lots of options, because they probably have done 20 or more songs together in concert so far. However, I wanted to stick with very high sound quality recordings, so it would all sound like a studio album. Luckily, they've done a few TV and radio appearances where they've played songs not on their singles.

I relied on those for all the rest, except for the very last track, which is from a concert, but I considered the sound quality good enough to match the rest. I also removed the audience noise from it. I actually had to fade it out before the end due to some talking over the music.

Three of the four songs on their two singles are Hitchcock compositions that appear nowhere else, plus there's a cover of a Neil Young song ("Motion Pictures.") The rest is a mix of Hitchcock originals from his earlier albums and more cover songs (of David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and Roxy Music).

I think it makes for a very nice album. It reminds me a lot of Richard and Linda Thompson. I hope this duo will do more recording together soon.

01 Follow Your Money (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)
02 Motion Pictures (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)
03 Love Is a Drag (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)
04 Life Is Change (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)
05 Cheese Alarm (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)
06 Nietzche’s Way (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)
07 The Prettiest Star (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)
08 Glass Hotel (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)
09 Just like a Woman (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)
10 Ole Tarantula (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)
11 In Every Dream Home a Heartache (Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift)

https://www.imagenetz.de/kQDcd

The cover is simply the cover of their "Love Is a Drag" single.