Swale Friday September 25, 2009 At Radio Bean

Words by Tim Lewis.

Woo Hoo, it had been a while since I’ve seen Swale. It looked like they were set to go on late. It looked like Osage Orange were on at 10 then someone else then Swale. I worked until 7, got home, settled in a bit and headed out around 10. I thought I’d arrive a little early, in case I had to stand in line, or I could check out whoever was on, and wait for Swale. I ran to the ATM then headed back to the Bean and Swale was on. Rats! I entered, got a beer, and found a place to sit in the corner of the mostly crowded coffee shop.

I think they were playing Armadillo when I arrived but I was a bit distracted and am not sure. From there they played a bunch of the mellower songs they’ve created. Soft Fireworks sparkled with a slow burn intensity. The song about living in Middlesex was smooth and elegant as the lyric moaned, then brought triumph. A song I did not know started slow and kept rising and rising, but peaked before exploding, and receded to it’s beginning. Swale indeed.

Though I arrived late, I got to hear 30 or 40 minutes of achingly beautiful music. They wrapped up the set with a cover of the classic I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire. It’s jazzy whimsicality juxtaposed nicely the earlier song about Fireworks, where Swale want to light up the sky. I greatly appreciated the ramifications as I took the option to head for the door, and get a good night’s sleep before working in the morning. I am so lucky to have bands like Swale in my life.

This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.