Arab Strap - The Last Romance - Digital Album (2005)
Original UK Release Date: 17th October 2005. Entire Album Download With Cover Art - 10 Tracks (320K bit rate; 93.8MB)
The final studio album of Arab Strap and arguably their most upbeat, The Last Romance finds Aidan in a particularly reflective state of mind and not the worst for it as a result. If the album begins with a trademark slab of bitter invective in Stink ("Burn these sheets that we've just fucked in..."), it ends with a brass fuelled orgy of upbeat pop in There Is No Ending. With their fifth Chemikal album, Arab Strap had perfected their formula (if one ever existed) of recklessly inventive music steering Aidan's narrative in every conceivable direction. Abstract musical constructions with more than a nod to Ivor Cutler (Chat In Amsterdam, Winter 2003) sat shoulder to shoulder with the driving, crescendo-building bluster of Don't Ask Me To Dance.
Touring this album, the band had never sounded better so it was with real sadness that we heard of their decision to call it a day. Always advisable to end on a high though and with The Last Romance, Arab Strap did exactly that...