The wordy title of this disc was apparently necessary because an early version of the record wound up online, forcing MES to revamp a bunch of the material on it. By all accounts, the changes were vast and, from the descriptions I’ve read, he altered the tracks for the better. The proof is on the finished product: The Real New Fall LP is one of the strongest entries in the band’s catalog in six years, with both MES and his band (most of the folks who made Winner, and new drummer Dave Milner and new keyboardist/new Mark E. paramour Elena Poulou) thrillingly locked together.

I’m not sure that there’s anything we can point to as an explanation for everyone upping their individual games here. The band might have started to learn just how to please MES through the trial and error of Winner and locked into the perfect Can-meets-Sonics steps. And I daresay that Ben Pritchard kicks out some of the best slash-and-burn guitar work heard on a Fall record since Craig Scanlon’s dismissal. The quartet of players gave MES all the puzzle pieces, complete. Then he got to have some fun taking them apart and making some new pictures and adding his own fragments and colors through his arch, pointed lyrics.

Listening to this record, it finally dawned on me just how in the moment MES is as a songwriter. There’s no grand plan in place, he’s just letting his particular muse hold sway. If that means writing a song in support of Brian Wilson (“The worm in the bacon of BB/His name was Love…Mike’s gift was only poison”), or grousing about the indelicateness of British football fans, or even a few apocalyptic visions, so be it. After nearly 30 years of music making, he’s put his trust in that muse. Thankfully, this time around, it gave him some great material to work with.