'Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?' by Galen & Paul
Yes, that’s the voice of The Clash’s Paul Simonon, older and happier. His friend, Galen Ayers, is the daughter of Soft Machine’s Kevin Ayers. They formed a transgenerational duo that could happily sing and play guitars around a campfire, or trade lines like Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood. Their voices provide a nice contrast on their debut album; she sounds posh, he sounds closer to London’s East End. They make a great team.
Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day? achieves its high level through their collaborative songwriting and the production by veteran Tony Visconti, who kept things stripped down with each part shined to a bright gleam. Visconti allowed the songs and vocals to stand out, elevated by fascinating accents such as the Del Shannon-“Runaway” organ on “Room at the Top” or the melodica on the reggae-powered “A Sea Shanty.” “Hacia Arriba” boasts a Caribbean tempo with a spaghetti western arrangement and a lyric sung by Ayers in Spanish. “Mi Camino” recalls ‘60s French girl groups—if they had sung en Español.
Several songs sound like postcards from particular places in Europe or London, little travelogs comprising an almost cinematic tour. Ayers had with a group called Siskin and Simonon’s CV is too well known to list. Both were determined to not repeat the past on Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?
Stream or download Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day? on Amazon.
