Trapped Animal are trying to bankrupt me. That’s the only thing I can think, given the quality of their releases. It’s not just that they have the likes of The Baby Seals and Headswim on their roster – wildly different acts linked primarily by their exceptional talent – but also the attention to detail that they lavish on their releases.
The label’s run of Headswim reissues provides the perfect case in point. With owner Joel Clayton a fan of the band (and oh how it shows), Trapped Animal have provided a template for catalogue reissues that puts the vast majority of cynical major-label projects to shame. It started with the excellent, Flood Redux reissue (augmented by the equally excellent Flood Live set), and now concludes with a double vinyl edition of Despite Yourself, Headswim’s elegant swan song, released on the format for the very first time.
The Package
Housed in a heavy-duty gatefold sleeve, this deluxe vinyl edition of Despite Yourself mirrors the cover and rear of the original CD release, with Chris Floyd’s enigmatic photography showcasing a very different aesthetic to Flood.
The gatefold interior, however, has been redesigned. Gone is the moody blue palette of the CD booklet, with the lyrics now placed on a white background alongside additional band shots from the original sessions and updated liner notes, which add some additional words of thanks and credits. The discs themselves (available either in black or blue variants), are housed in plain paper sleeves, keeping them suitably safe from harm.
Adding to the package, an insert provides detail on the seven bonus tracks spread over sides C & D, as well as som period detail. Written by bassist Clovis, who provides personal insight into the album’s creation, it’s the icing on the cake for this superlative reissue.
The Album
One of those rare albums that seems to grow alongside the listener, Despite Yourself is a record to which I return often, each time finding something new to appreciate. As a teenager, it was the heavier songs that stood out – the thunderous chorus to Tourniquet, or the metallic conclusion to Devil In My Palm; whereas now, it’s the beautiful Wishing I Was Naïve or the schizophrenic Moving On that hit harder. Certainly, Despite Yourself showcases a very different band to the one that recorded Flood, with Headswim demonstrating a depth and maturity of songwriting that few bands achieve on their sophomore effort. With Steve Osborne’s sensitive production highlighting the depth of the arrangements, there’s a timelessness to the record that still captivates today, not least because it’s an album that needs to be heard as a complete work, something that vinyl really highlights as a format.
While I’ll never again have the pleasure of hearing Despite Yourself for the first time (and I can still remember the anticipation I felt as I brought the CD home), listening to this handsome reissue is as close as it’s possible to get to that experience.
It starts the moment the needle lands, the inevitable crackle of the lead-in groove giving way to Tourniquet’s beautifully warm introduction. For someone who came to Headswim through this album, simply hearing this evocative song causes the years to roll back, and, the crisp, crackle-free vinyl does it full justice. A slow burning number, it may offer an explosive chorus, but the subtle introduction of each element not only allows space for Dan’s assured vocals, but also feels like an entrance – which makes sense, when you consider the band had been away for three years at the point of release.
Listening back now, it’s interesting to note that, for an album seen as a quieter entry in the band’s canon, it still packs one hell of a punch. The tightly wound Hype, for example, not only offers a towering vocal performance, but also an absolutely massive bass riff from Clovis, who seems intent on balancing out the cleaner guitar tones with his seismic bass lines. In contrast, Years On Me allows for a more sensitive set of dynamics, the gentle percussion and weaving bass recalling the psychedelic majesty of latter-day Beatles. It’s a mini masterpiece, and it only goes to show just how much wider in scope the band’s vision had become. The same could be said of Clinging To The Wreckage, a song that takes Soundgarden’s Superunknown as its starting point, the sparse arrangement once again placing a welcome focus on Dan’s astounding vocals. The side wraps up with Better Made, a simpler song with a strong Radiohead-circa-The-Bends pulse to it. Beautifully performed, it’s a little more straightforward than the pair of songs that preceded it, but it provides the side with a suitably soaring conclusion.
Side B opens with the mesmerising Wishing I Was Naïve, which offers one of the album’s most addictive melodies. Emerging from processed, trip-hop inspired drums, it deftly moves between acoustic verse and string-soaked chorus, ensnaring the listener as it goes. The strings remain for Old Angel Midnight, an enigmatic track that consistently wrongfoots the listener with its atmospheric flourishes, ultimately coming across as the bastard son of Manic Street Preachers and Primal Scream. As such, the acoustic Holy Ghost, a simplistic Dylan-esque number, is something of a surprise, almost feeling like a b side when compared to its more imaginative predecessor. That said, it acts as something of a reset, calming the nerves before Burnt Out Shell Of Bliss ups the energy levels once more. Both, however, are swept away by the expansive Devil In My Palm, an album highlight that adds electronic elements back into the mix, the arpeggiated synths adding extra depth as it builds to a surprisingly metallic conclusion.
Side C opens with Moving On, a track that sees the electronic elements continue, the band juggling crunchy industrial with acoustic passages just to keep you on your toes. It’s another piece that nods to Headswim’s collective love of the Happy Mondays and it builds to a hell of a climax as Dan sings “the time for tears is gone” over and over again, as if he’s trying to persuade himself that this is the case. Yet, if Moving On suggests there’s hope around the corner, Brother reminds us that grief can strike at any time. A beautifully written meditation on loss, like the Manic Street Preachers’ Design For Life it finds Headswim seeking emotional solace in some of the most beautiful music of their career, providing the album with a poignant closing number that haunts the memory.
The album is followed with three tracks drawn from the Tourniquet single. First up is Black Car, a gorgeous acoustic piece that opens with Dan playing solo before the band appear, providing additional psychedelic touches. It’s a decent track, but the strong OK Computer vibe suggests that Headswim were right to hold it over as a b side. Next up, the similarly light-touch Last Subway provides something of a spiritual sequel to Wishing I Was Naïve, the wonderfully progressive arrangement proving every bit as magical as the central melody. The side concludes with Coma Recovery Position, arguably the most beautiful of the three pieces on offer here, Dan serving up a heart stopping vocal that is perfectly augmented by the swirling strings that surround it.
Opening side D are three demos recorded between Flood and Despite Yourself. Of these, both The Seed and No Ticket appeared on the sold out Down / Tourniquet live EP released in November 2023 via Trapped Animal. In addition, No Ticket featured as an extra track on the Hype promotional disc released in 1997, as well as the Better Made single released in 1998.
The side kicks off with skittish rocker The Seed – a decent song with crunchy riffs, twitchy synth patches, and a surprisingly overt baggy influence. Caught somewhere between Tourniquet and Hype, you can almost hear the band feeling their way towards the eventual sound of Despite Yourself, and it could have been a cracking single had the band pursued this approach. It’s followed by the the previously unreleased Plagued which, despite its gloomy title, is a surprisingly upbeat gem. A welcome bonus for fans who potentially have everything else, the explosive chorus recalls the band’s Flood era, and it’s fun to hear the band simply rocking out in the studio once more.
A familiar track to many fans, No Ticket is a fantastic song that, of the three here, most deserved to be included on Despite Yourself, the balance of melody and atmospheric synth passages already refined to an art form, recalling Andrew Weatherall’s work with Primal Scream in the process. It’s a truly mesmerising song, and it deserved to get a far wider release. Wrapping up the album, and this stunning reissue, is an alternate version of Tourniquet, with added strings. Foregrounding the melody, the strings provide a rather more lush backdrop for Dan’s exquisite vocal, although the arrangement sensibly has them augmenting rather than overshadowing the gnarly riff of the chorus. It’s a fine alternative arrangement of a stunning song, but it does not quite eclipse the understated power of the album version.
Conclusion
Trapped Animal’s reissues of the Headswim catalogue have been an unalloyed joy. Whether you’re a fan of the band looking to have the albums with attendant b sides all in one place (and on incredibly high-quality vinyl), or a newcomer yet to realise the band’s charms, these are an object lesson as to how to treat music with care and respect. Moreover, in the case of Headswim, it’s the starkest of reminders as to just how good this band truly were.
For those who grew up with Despite Yourself, these are songs woven into the fabric of your very existence – songs that have soundtracked key moments in your life, and to which you have turned time and again over the years. To hear the album once again, and on vinyl for the very first time, is to achieve the seemingly impossible and fall in love with it all over again. 10/10
