After listening to The Lilac Time’s 1990 album And Love for All, I wanted to see what the band had been up to in recent years. That led me to Dance Till All the Stars Come Down, their 2023 album.
The psychedelic touches and 60s pop sensibilities have given way to something more rooted in acoustic folk, country, and Americana. There are still traces of that older folk-pop sound, but the emphasis here is on restrained arrangements, gentle melodies, and vocals that feel more like a songwriter telling you a story than a pop singer delivering a performance.
There’s an intimacy to the album that I really like. The songs don’t feel crowded with instruments or built around elaborate production. The playing is understated, with little touches adding color without overwhelming the melodies. Stephen Duffy’s voice sits comfortably in the arrangements, while Claire Duffy’s harmonies add warmth and a lovely sense of companionship.
“Your Vermilion Cliffs” sets the tone. The acoustic folk arrangement has a mournful, sliding-string sound that gives the song a country flavor, while Stephen and Claire’s voices create a particularly pretty combination. The lyrics aren’t simply about getting older. They’re about the uncertainty of life and what you can promise the person you love.
There is a country influence to “The Long Way,” with more prominent slide guitar. There’s a confessional quality to the singing that suits the song’s reflection on the route life has taken. The lyrics acknowledge the cruelty in the world but also the importance of finding your people.
One of the most beautiful songs on the album is “On the Last Day of the Last Days of Summer.” The playing is gorgeous and restrained, and Duffy’s vocals give the song a real tenderness. There’s a sense of time passing, along with a lovely tension between encouraging someone to explore the world and wanting to hold on to the relationship you share. You can’t stop time, but you can appreciate the people beside you while they’re there.
“Candy Cigarettes” has a more playful melody, although the arrangement remains restrained. The lyrics have a slightly darker edge than the music initially suggests. The repeated idea that nothing sweet comes free sounds like a warning about the cost of pleasure. References to memory, imagination, and religion add further layers, though the song leaves room for different interpretations.
“A Makeshift Raft” has a great hook, with more noticeable electric guitar giving it a slightly more pronounced pop feel. It’s still a restrained performance, but the melody sticks with you. The lyrics turn toward politics, expressing frustration with a world that seems incapable of learning from its mistakes.
The song brings to mind the rise of far-right politics and the frightening echoes of the hatred and authoritarianism that earlier generations fought against. The repeated appeal to choose love offers an alternative, even if the song doesn’t pretend that love alone can solve everything.
“Adiós and Goodnight” takes a more traditional country-ballad approach. Duffy sounds like a country storyteller, reflecting on ideals that once offered protection but no longer seem so reliable.
The album returns to gentle acoustic folk on “We Missed You,” with some really pretty harmonies. The lyrics suggest disconnection and the feeling that familiar routes no longer lead where they once did. The arrangement is so pretty and welcoming that the urgency beneath the words becomes all the more striking.
The album ends with “The Band That Nobody Knew,” which adds a subtle psychedelic edge to the acoustic sound. There’s a little echo or reverb in the arrangement, and Duffy delivers the lyrics with more force and urgency than on some of the earlier tracks.
The song looks back on the experience of being in a band, remembering the time spent traveling and playing together while acknowledging that the dream didn’t necessarily work out. There’s affection for the experience, but also a sense of disappointment and questions about what went wrong. The idea of loving the time spent between towns is especially evocative. Even if the band never achieved what it hoped for, the experience itself still meant something.
One of the things I appreciate about Dance Till All the Stars Come Down is how much these songs accomplish without making a big show of it. The arrangements are gentle, but they’re not interchangeable. The country slide guitar gives some songs a distinct character, the harmonies bring warmth, and little touches of electric guitar or echo add variety.
Duffy’s vocals suit the material, and the performances feel intimate, as though you’re sitting in the room while the songs are being played.
What connects these songs isn’t a single message so much as a willingness to look honestly at life. Relationships are uncertain, the world can be cruel, and the dreams you start out with don’t always survive intact. But there’s still comfort in the people you love, the experiences you’ve shared, and the music you make along the way.
Verdict: Solid
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