Typhoon’s White Lighter is one of those special albums that come along all too rarely, something fully formed and majestic and timed just right to fall into your life and ease whatever ache or sting is troubling you. We didn’t cover it on Wake The Deaf as I was asked to write something for New Welsh Review, and it was beaten into third on our Albums of the Year list due to the questionable voting system, so I kind of feel like we neglected it slightly. But rest assured I loved it and still do, for reasons that are summarized in the NWR piece:
Rather than scribbling his name down to somehow transcend death, Morton acknowledges it. For him, this fear is not vanity in the face of impermanence but rather an attempt to make sense of time we have had and still have. Through tales of childhood joy and optimism, nostalgia and hope, Morton urges the listener to act upon the knowledge of death, to live.
Well, the band have (not-so-recently) released a 7″ containing alternate versions of ‘Prosthetic Love’ (piano version) and ‘100 Years’ (as Beat & Weathered/One Hundred Years), thus giving us a chance to post something and go some way to addressing the lack of Typhoon on the site. There’s little point in writing too much more as things will descend into uncomely gushing, but let it be known, the stripped back, piano led performance of ‘Prosthetic Love’ is gorgeous:
“This time I wake I’m still alive
Outlived my expiration date imagine my surprise
Some backwards take on the book of Job
His life was a wager and mine’s a joke
Give him what he wants, he will never know
He’s tied up trying to let himself goOf everyone I ever knew
I’ve gotten used to use
I’ve grown attached to you being here
With everyone I ever knew
I’ve learned to count on you
As not on my fingers”
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You can grab the (digital) 7″ now from the Typhoon Bandcamp page.