Spaces Everywhere

"On one hand, the music is very melodic and cheerful. The lyrics, however, deal with death, decay, change... no wonder we are rather popular with the undead," says singer, guitarist, and songwriter Bid of Spaces Everywhere, The Monochrome Set's twelfth studio album. A very particular humor. And a unique sound: although this time banjos, Hammond organ, female backing vocals, and even flutes can be heard, experts and laymen alike will recognize: this is The Monochrome Set. Undistorted, nervous guitars, like the soundtrack to a French new wave film... but one starring Michael Caine, Louis de Funès, and Jean-Paul Belmondo and directed by Andy Warhol. Peculiarly timeless, it is a sound that cannot be categorized. Although rooted in the 1950s and '60s (the guitar sound, for example, is a hybrid of Duane Eddy's and Sterling Morrison's), it still feels oddly modern. Then there is Bid's voice, which this time is more reminiscent of the great American crooners than of Lou Reed. Bid wrote most of the songs in May and June of 2014, and the band recorded them in Brixton, London. Perhaps the band's popularity among the undead will diminish upon hearing the springtime air that can thus be detected in this music. While music historians and critics continue to grapple with the baffling reasons for this band's lack of mainstream success, the in-crowd has always known what they have in The Monochrome Set. Time and again, the story is repeated: Johnny Marr found a single by the band in Morrissey's record collection and decided it might not be a bad idea to start a band with the somewhat eccentric singer. The influence of The Monochrome Set on bands like Felt, Franz Ferdinand, Belle and Sebastian, and the Strokes can hardly be ignored. In early '80s Germany, the band heavily influenced one band in particular, Die Zimmermänner. And like every band that has borrowed more or less from Bid, Lester Square, Andy Warren, and Steve Brummell, they happen to be pretty good. So it's fitting that Timo Blunck of Die Zimmermänner was the one to mix Spaces Everywhere in Hamburg. The Monochrome Set present an album that will become a modern classic like Eligible Bachelors and "Strange Boutique." And where is the best place to listen to the album? Bid: "In a deconsecrated church, without a mirror." There he goes again.