The romantic ideal underpinning Arab Strap’s ‘The Red Thread’
Here in Britain, we love artists who capture a time and place, whether it Oasis, The Streets, Arctic Monkeys or the many others who have so eloquently brought to life everyday life. One band that probably does not get the plaudits they deserve in general, and excels in imbuing a very distinct sense of the real in their music is Arab Strap.
Breaking out in 1996 with their debut album, The Week Never Starts Round Here, Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton captured the indulgent spirit of post-Thatcher Britain. Their sound was characterised by two essential parts: the former’s lyrics that delve headfirst into the transgression that abounded at the end of the last millennium, with songs touching on sex, drugs and other postmodern issues. The other is that the music is moody, atmospheric and immersive, equally evocative of weird drug-induced treks back from a club as it is the bleak Winter days in cities when modern life could not look any more automated, with the constant streams of traffic, people and the increased presence of looming skyscrapers making you think, is this really it?
Arab Strap are fully aware of the grey areas inherent to humanity and the this complexity fuels all their music, with it existing at the nexus of opposites, whether harmonious and unsettling, tender but hateful or even refined but primitive sounding. What is interesting, though, is that while they are master documentarians of modern human nature, their albums have shifted in thematic focus with each release, with the debut about being a total husk of a human being, the second one concerning self-imposed romantic isolation, and the third, 1999’s fan favourite Elephant Shoe, taking a sharp u-turn and examining intimacy.
Adding an extra dose of realism to their music is that Moffat tends to write in the first person, positioning himself as the narrator that we follow on his journeys into the heart of modern society, regardless of how much they are based on his own experiences. They’ve always been excellent and remain so on their latest effort, 2024’s I’m Totally Fine with It Don’t Give a Fuck Anymore, but there’s something about their first few albums that are particularly compelling given that they act as something of a path back to that strange time when the 1990s was coming to a close and a new age was coming.
After the great exploration of intimacy that was Elephant Shoe, Arab Strap returned in 2001 with Red Thread, which is one of their most compelling listens, featuring some tracks that have a sultry, trip-hop edge. An album that’s aged like a fine wine, it also stands out because of the profoundly romantic thematic angle it has. Although at face value, you might take this as plainly Moffat discussing a time in his life, according to him, an Eastern romantic belief underpins it, and it’s somewhat heartwarming compared to some of the other subjects they have covered.
He revealed to The Scotsman around the time of release where the album’s title is from: “It’s an Eastern belief that you’re connected to your life partner by an invisible red thread and by that you will always find each other. It works both as a romantic thing and a comfort just in case it all goes wrong because you’ve still not followed the thread. It’s relevant to the doubts that are expressed in some of the songs.”
This was Arab Strap, though, and they didn’t wholly forego their formula for true romance. One of the best tracks on the album is ‘Love Detective’, which analyses the sex diary of an unfaithful partner, and the opener, ‘Amor Veneris’ outlines an unsettling romantic morning that sends shivers down the spine because of the chilling power dynamics outlined.
