I drank the wine they had left on my table

• The Saints, “Just Like Fire Would” (buy All Fools Day here)

In which a band previously most noted for punk anthems (and previously discussed in this space by Gary Butler) goes for a slightly more reflective sound. I always imagine Chris Bailey singing this one from the corner of a trashed hotel suite, the air stale & foul, empty bottles clanking as he stirs. As if he’s always wanted to be a classic rock & roller, a god of arenas, a wearer of big scarves & round sunglasses & tight pants, a champion of debauch. His bleary vocals are a little at odds with the arrangement’s more fussy touches, like the strings and the horn line, but still, it all sounds suitably weary & decadent. And yet uplifting, too.