Nutlets 1967-80

Perhaps unsurprisingly after two well-received LPs that were noted for their carefully mixed and matched flavours from Ian Button and co's extensive wardrobe of '60s and '70s pop influences, Papernut Cambridge's third album is a covers record. Unashamed, completely un-ironic and reverential pop music covers.

Recorded over two days at Big Jelly Studios in Ramsgate and featuring almost the full complement of Papernut collaborators in the same place at the same time for once - including regular contributors Darren Hayman on sax and keys, Mary Epworth and Helène Bradley on vocals, labelmates Robert Rotifer, Ralegh Long and Robert Halcrow on guitars and bass, plus some piano emailed in from John Howard in Spain. The 10 tracks on Nutlets include dreamlike haunted memories from childhood TV and radio (Jacky's 'White Horses' and The Bystanders/Casuals' 'Jesamine') as well as other, later discovered gems: Paul Jones' 'I've Been A Bad Bad Boy' from Peter Watkins' quaint and disturbing 1967 movie Privilege; early '70s tracks by Cockney Rebel and Hot Chocolate; the perhaps inevitable T.Rex cover - 'Broken Hearted Blues' from Tanx; and - the most "modern" reference point on the record - Mikey Dread's 'Rockers Delight' from 1980, a year that was undoubtedly the end of an era.

Two of the other cover choices have taken on a rather poignant significance since both Lynsey De Paul ('Sugar Me') and Alvin Stardust ('Jealous Mind') passed away within weeks of each other in 2014, soon after the recordings were completed.

Charlie Watkins too - inventor and designer of the mountain of WEM gear used at Big Jelly on these recordings - is also no longer with us.

The tinges of mortality and sadness reaffirm that Nutlets is a record about the passage of time. All of Papernut Cambridge's material has been nostalgic it its way. This is the next logical step. Hearts on sleeves. These are not artful reinterpretations, updates or massacres. They're just another document of what Papernut Cambridge are about. Perhaps they explain it all a bit more. "Lots of people have mentioned our influences, which is the stuff I grew up with," explains Ian. "We love these songs. They're like the accompanying references and footnotes to There's No Underground. They're very much what we're about."

Tracklist:

'Broken Hearted Blues' '(T.Rex)

'I Believe In Love' (Hot Chocolate)

'What Ruthy Said' (Cockney Rebel)

'Jesamine' (The Bystanders/The Casuals)

'Sugar Me' (Lynsey De Paul)

'I've Been A Bad Bad Boy' (Paul Jones)

'Jealous Mind' (Alvin Stardust)

'Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)' (Edison Lighthouse)

'White Horses' (Jacky)

'Rockers Delight' (Mikey Dread)

Personnel:

Ian Button, Robert Rotifer, Robert Halcrow, Ralegh Long, Darren Hayman, Jack Hayter, Mary Epworth, Will Twynham, Helène Bradley, John Howard, Terry Miles.