Lloyd in Belgrade

I wrote a few years ago about meeting Lloyd Cole, the finest songwriter of my generation, in Dublin, and the role his music has played in the soundtrack of my life. I won't go over that again, although I quite enjoyed rereading that piece from 2008. Your mileage may vary, of course. Since that time, I've taken the OG to one of his concerts, seen him twice in Chapel Hill and enjoyed the birthday card the OG made for me two years ago, which featured Impossible Girl as the backing track

Anyway, Lloyd has a new album. Standards, which came out last month, and although I'm not as keen on it as other recent efforts (I really like Antidepressant and Music in a Foreign Language), it is excellent nonetheless, and I am happy to be among the listeners who financed its production. It's gotten good reviews. Women's Studies and Period Piece are the best songs on the record, in my view (you can stream them both at the album link), and the latter is interesting because the video features Lloyd's son playing a young Lloyd, which is kind of cool. It's also nice to hear him name check Chic on Kids Today (I can't think of anyone who could make "dig it" sound less hip. G Lo, maybe).

He's touring Europe in support of the record, and I was delighted to learn that he'll be coming to the WC for a show on Friday October 4th. If you were contemplating a visit that would be an excellent weekend to do it.