As an acoustic duo of a decade standing now, Miles & Erica is very much the outlet for Miles Hunt’s softer side. This is their third studio album, and its timing is significant in some small way: having marked the 30th anniversary of The Wonder Stuff with a substantial tour and a new album, Hunt felt it was time to return to something more sedate.
Hunt has always seemed like something of a divisive character, and while his somewhat lippy nature was integral to the appeal of The Wonder Stuff in their early years, his ego and arrogance have a rather intrusive tendency. It’s all kept firmly in check for the majority of ‘We Came Here to Work’, and while some of the album – particularly the front end – is in fact rather bland, it features a fair few moments of candidness and sincerity which display a more humble aspect.
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When they slow it down and go for grand anthemic folk, as on ‘Witness’, I’m remined of The Mission – and in particular Wayne Hussey solo – when mining the same emotionally overwrought seam. It feels a shade forced and disingenuous.
‘We Came Here to Work’ is by far at its best when at its most introspective, its most minimal. ‘The Good in the World’ is a genuinely nice and affecting song, with Erica’s wordless backing vocals giving the wistful tune a dreamy, almost shoegaze atmosphere. The title track is also a quietly poignant (and highly political) song, and the thoughtful, stripped-back ‘If I Were You’, is both easy on the ear and engaging in its intimacy.
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