Reviews

Artist:Kirsty MacColl
Album: See That Girl
Label: Universal
Tracks: 161
Website: https://www.kirstymaccoll.com/

It's been nearly 23 years since Kirsty MacColl was killed in Mexico and some would say that means this 8cd box set and book are long overdue, that may be the case, but it's here now. It didn't help that Kirsty had a complicated recording career, particularly in the early days and appeared on a number of collaborations, most famously with the Pogues. I have to say this is an incredibly well curated collection of Kirsty's work from 1979 to 2000.

Clocking in at 161 tracks, including 40 previously unreleased recordings, including the 1983 lost album "Real" in its entirety, don't worry if you can't stretch to the whole boxset, "Real", has been released as a digital album available from all the usual suspects. What's really pleasing is that there are very few alternative mixes and takes included in the number though there are some great concerts, the legendary you had to be there Glastonbury performance in '92 and one of her final concerts at the Jazz Café in '99.

MacColl was always a great experimenter the journey from post punk/girl growing up songs, to sophisticated latin influenced sounds, taking in a lot of guest recordings and other experiments along the way, contributing to both her own music and others in unexpected ways, she had a sense of what worked musically, be that deciding the order of U2's "The Joshua Tree" and incorporating her son's sax teacher into her final studio band

Jude Rogers provides the narrative in the hard backed book that accompanies the music, part biog, part interview with the important people in Kirsty's life, it emphasises just how much Kirsty was her own woman, succeeding or failing on her own decisions, arguably something that made her early career such a confused period.

Whilst the albums are here, they aren't identified per se. This is not a box set that focuses on the release and adds bonus tracks instead opting a for a chronological run through of Kirsty's work, all of which seeks to remind you of why she's still bitterly missed, there are few artists with such a distinctive voice as Kirsty MacColl that could turn it to so many different styles, something that explains her collaborations and appearances as a banking singer for so many artists.

Those collaborations, as well as her singles and BBC appearances are given their own discs, which I think works well as in combination they would split the chronological journey too much.

One of the things that "See That Girl" did was remind me what a great musician MacColl was. Her songwriting, ability for arranging and voice go with out saying, but she was also an innovative multi-instrumentalist.

There are too many highlights across the eight discs for me to call them all out, she was an artist that could simply deliver great music, some we appreciated at the time and some we came to appreciate further down the line.

It speaks volumes that twenty three years after her passing she remains such an important figure in so many of her fans lives. From that first release in 79 to her last material 21 years later she stayed true to herself, "See That Girl" is a fine tribute to an artist that we still miss and who still raises our spirits.

Neil King

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