Sad Lovers & Giants

***The Tightrope Touch Sad Lovers & Giants are a post-punk band from Watford, England who formed in 1980. The original lineup included vocalist Garçe (Simon) Allard, guitarist Tristan Garel-Funk, bassist Cliff Silver, drummer Nigel Pollard and keyboardist/saxophonist David Wood. They released their first 3-song 7” EP “Clé” followed by the "Colourless Dream" single both in 1981 and “Lost In A Moment” 7” single in 1982. They released two studio albums, “Epic Garden Music” (1982) and “Feeding the Flame” (1983) before disbanding and reforming in 1987. 
 
“Lost In A Sea Full Of Sighs” is a collection of 9 songs recorded between 1981 and 1982. Compiling all seven song from their first three 7” singles plus one demo and one song recorded for a John Peel Session in 1981. Lead singer and songwriter Garce Allard was influenced by the works of Satre, Orwell, Huxley, Dali and Kafka and especially T.S. Elliot’s ‘The Wasteland’. The sense of alienation from reality in the stream of conscious-like prose, perfectly echoed his own experience. Many of the lyrics on this collection are vaguely autobiographical and tend towards melodrama and personal relationships. The music is moody, dense, cerebral, bass-driven, awash with synthesizer swirls and sax interjections like The Chameleons, Modern English and The Cure. 
 
All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The jacket features a drawing of an espalier used for "horizontal training”,a technique to control the directional growth of plants designed by Eloise Leigh. Each copy includes an 8 page black and white zine booklet with lyrics, liner notes and drawings plus a 8.5x11” gig poster from the band’s archives. “This small anthology of songs, by a little known and perverse English band from the 1980’s means as much to us as I hope it will to you.” (Grace Allard)