Deacon Blue went into the heart of Glasgow's Gorbals district to record
The City of Love in 2019. They emerged in March 2020 with their greatest chart success in more than two decades. Fueled by its title-track single, it topped the Scottish charts and went to number four in the U.K. They planned tours, media, and promotional events, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled them. To promote the album, the band excavated three thematically linked songs left off the record (they aren't leftovers) and five more in various states of completion.
Deacon Blue's members entered the studio separately to record their parts. As if receiving confirmation and support from the universe while they were working, their 1987 single "Dignity" was voted "Scotland's Greatest Song" in a national competition.
Riding on the Tide of Love is, therefore, a companion to
The City of Love.
The first single and title track draws musical inspiration from
Leonard Cohen's "Democracy" with a marching beat and simple two-chord vamp. Vocalists
Ricky Ross and
Lorraine McIntosh offer an apocalyptic yet redemptive lyric in chant-like unison. It references growing up during the atomic age, the fears and travails of adolescence, and the ultimate redemption that comes with embracing the complexities of life and love; they even use an episode from St. John of Patmos' Revelation story as signifier and metaphor. Possibility pours from
McIntosh's full-throated delivery in the refrain amid a stinging single-note lead guitar line, swelling keyboards, and soaring strings to become one of
Deacon Blue's signature pop anthems. "She Loved the Snow" is more pastoral, with
Ross and
McIntosh singing in glorious harmonic unison; it could easily have found its way onto 2009's duo project The Great Lakes. The shimmering organ in "Look Up" slyly references
Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" in homage. It's a moving, gospel- and soul-tinged exhortation to transcend fear amid the fleeting nature of life. The notion is underscored with the magisterial rock of "Time," which is fueled by thrumming tom-tom loops that affectionately recall
Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill." The gorgeous "Send a Note Out" uses a
Steve Cropper-esque guitar vamp, B-3 organ, rubbery bass, and clapping drumsticks to surround
Ross and
McIntosh in Celtic soul as they testify to the power of responding to adversity with creativity and resolve. "Not Gonna Be That Girl" is a story of unconditional, romantic, redemptive love. It commences as a ballad but ends a swaying anthem complete with processional brass.
Riding on the Tide of Love almost whispers to a close with the jazzy, romantic pop ballad "It's Still Early." These eight songs are a stellar thematic follow-up to
The City of Love. That said, they stand on their own as a single, musically sophisticated, emotionally direct, remarkably cohesive document that desires to provide safe haven in a dark age -- especially given the piecemeal origins of these sessions. ~ Thom Jurek