1990 The Beautiful South: A Little Time

The Beautiful South have always walked a fine line for my affections. At times insufferably twee and/or worthy, there is at others a genuine edge of grit and subversion in their output that warrants a double take. This dichotomy was there from the start - I think the point I'm trying to make can be summed up from both their 'Song For Whoever' debut single, where a surface of sugar hid a lyric of withering cynicism, and debut album that originally came with a cover depicting a woman with a gun in her mouth, subsequently changed on complaint to a picture of two fluffy toys yet with both variations aptly managing to represent the music contained within.

When they walk the line dead centre they walk it well, but not so when they waver too much to one side. Which is what 'A Little Time' is prone to do through its own indecision. Essentially a dialogue between a couple with a relationship on the rocks, Dave Hemmingway's 'male' provides a laconic, 'it's not you it's me' vocal of tired resignation ("I need a little time, to think it over. I need a little space, just on my own") whilst Brianna Corrigan responds with stinging fire ("Funny how quick the milk turns sour, isn't it, isn't it.Your face has been looking like that for hours, hasn't it, hasn't it").

I confess I've always had a soft spot for songs with an internal call and response dialogue and I tend to see 'A Little Time' as a PG version of Tindersticks 18 rated 'Travelling Light' where Stuart Staple's in denial bravado is taken apart brick by brick by Carla Torgerson until he's reduced to a nothing but a shell. It's a satisfying conclusion and that's something 'A Little Time' doesn't have - the song's video brings it all to life but it also underlines the fact that 'A Little Time' is a random episode from a long running soap opera. The characters here have a back story history we're not aware of and a future we're not shown, but with the absence of either it tails off with a whimper, a book with the last page removed or left unwritten and it's a situation at odds with the song's own clipped, no fat brevity. The tension keeps it sour and interesting enough to make 'A Little Time' a good song, but it's not a great one and not one of their best.