The Blue Nile

Saw this on the Bark Psychosis message board earlier today… The Blue Nile is releasing a new album! The Blue Nile was yet another band that just seemed to fall off the face of the planet after their last album, 1996’s Peace At Last (which most seem write off as their worst, though I enjoy it quite a bit).

If you’ve never heard The Blue Nile, you’re missing out on a very under-appreciated (and influential) band. Along the same lines as ambient, mature pop artists like David Sylvian or even Talk Talk, The Blue Nile’s sound is much more relaxed and accessible, almost folky at times, with Paul Buchanan’s lovely croon the icing on the cake. Their music can be downright sentimental at times, but there’s a certain earnestness to it that I personally find refreshing.

Click here for a nice article about the new album, as well as the band’s reclusive nature. I think the following quote sums up the band’s sound quite nicely…

The Blue Nile’s records seem to be about ordinary things and ordinary people — the pathos and beauty of an ordinary life. They are enigmatic, sketchy invocations of city life. They take ordinary situations and make them glorious.

Nicely put. Anyhoo, the new album is titled High and is set for an August 30th release on the Sanctuary label.