Half-Life
© Copyright-Test Tube Records
(634479112829)
Record Label: Test Tube Records
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"This remarkable debut by Tim Closs has been re-issued. Which is just as well, as it's a work of pure genius"
- Richard Fallon, What's On In London, Feb 2002
"Lovelorn lyrical sharpness not heard since Morrissey took a sharp right-turn into irrelevancy"
- April Long, NME, Dec 2000
Tears In X-Ray Eyes' debut album, 'Half-Life', was released on February 4th 2002 on test tube records.
An understated mixture of heartfelt vocals and cinematic arrangements, 'Half-Life' exquisitely captures a sense of suburban lostness and disillusionment. Exploring feelings of frustration and restless ambition, the album sparkles with songs that are loving, lovelorn and full of pathos: "Don't read those teenage magazines", pleads 'London's Most Unwanted Child'.
Two double A-side singles, 'Stained Glass'/'Don't Crush The One You Love' (February 2001) and 'Open Wide'/'London's Most Unwanted Child' (May 2001) on test tube paved the way for 'Half-Life' with positive critical reactions.
In equal parts fragile and epic, 'Half-Life' is warm; never over-bleak: 'Keep Us Together' and 'Independence Day' turn from brooding melancholy into something joyous.
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author: CD Baby
Bittersweet tales of love and loss from a London bedsit - acoustic guitars, old synths and orchestral percussion create something heartfelt and brimming with restless ambition - What's On In London called it "a work of pure genius". Personally, I took this one home right after I heard it and have been flipping my lid over it ever since. It is a rare specimen of smart art-pop with the kind of hopeless/hopeful themes and feels that you might have been introduced to by the marriage of The Smiths and Cocteau Twins.
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well-written and touching
author: Pam
A wonderful album over all, well written and well performed. Tim Closs' voice is fragile and sweet. His songs make me want to curl up with my fuzzy cloud blanket and a familiar novel.
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"...a work of pure genius"
author: What's On In London, Richard J Fallon
This remarkable debut by Tim Closs has been re-issued. Which is just as well as it's a work of pure genius. It's dark without ever being bleak, while a lingering melancholic beauty is constantly on display. Closs wears his heart very much on his sleeve, as a blanket of honesty is stretched to every corner of not only his world, but ours as well. It's produced with such restraint, giving everything, from his heartfelt vocals, soft strings and guitars room to breathe. Each track should be labelled 'handle with care': such is the level of fragility that exists. If you've ever felt heartache (and I don't mean indigestion), then buy a copy not only for yourself, but for everyone you've ever loved. 5/5
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...bittersweet...promising
author: Teletext, John Earls
Tears In X-Ray Eyes is the solo project of one Tim Closs, a curious, querulous London-based singer-songwriter whose fractured anthems of loss and longing ache with intimations of mortality. Closs delivered a statement of intent with last year's distracted, beautiful single Stained Glass, and this profound set builds on the poignant promise. There's a bittersweet, Blur-like track called London's Most Unwanted Child. It certainly won't be Closs. Promising. 7/10
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