SIMON LONDON + THE SPIRITS
‘POST HASTE’
With 2022 album release, Don’t You Forget About Me, still ringing in fans’ ears and a new album due later this year, Simon London, progenitor and songwriter with Simon London + the Spirits, looked back in time for his band’s latest release, current single, ‘Post Haste’. In fact, ‘Post Haste’ was recorded by Simon London + the Spirits way back in 2007 in an earlier iteration of the band’s lineup.
“It wasn’t until I was looking for some tour photos on an old hard drive that I actually had a listen and thought, I should really do something with this,” said London. “‘Post Haste’ was always a favourite for some reason.”
‘For some reason,’ is classic musicianspeak that translates as, ‘I know this is good but if I say it out loud, my hubris might just kill the magic,’ or words to that effect. Creatives are weird creatures.
There are multiple reasons why ‘Post Haste’ is good with only chance standing between it and the mantle of greatness.
There’s London’s voice, which drips with wistful sadness as he pours out his heart with lines like:
I used to believe that we could make it / Now I don’t know so much anymore / I used to think that we had what it took / But I find myself thinking about other things.
There’s the minor-chord close out where the guitar just keeps ringing until it finds its way into your tear ducts. And there’s the vocal interplay that anticipates this end, the backing vocals picking out the high notes as a counterpoint to London’s beautifully mournful baritone.
There’s the sing-along chorus that just won’t leave you and comes as something of a gift-wrapped surprise in a song that starts out as a low-key acoustic dealio that feels like it may or may not go somewhere, but confirms its charm when the electric lead guitar kicks in at around 20 seconds. That’s the moment those who might still be on the fence learn that ‘Post Haste’ has the mark of greatness written into its DNA.
Ostensibly, ‘Post Haste’ is a love song, reflecting on what was and probably never will be again. But the lyric and the timing of the song’s release following London’s decision to return to the Spirits as a vehicle for his music in 2021, these things give the song a new life. Could they make it? Do they have what it takes? On the basis of ‘Post Haste’ the answer to such questions is a resounding, yes.
Will they make it? Who knows. With songs like ‘Post Haste’ under their belts, Simon London + the Spirits already have. Now it’s all about the fickle and difficult game of numbers.
Simon London + the Spirits play a reunion show at Six Degrees in Albany on 9 August. More info here.
Where they land next is anyone’s guess, but hopefully they will land somewhere.
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