 Stop Beating the Beat
6 weeks in a Spanish recording studio had ended with a set of recording RCA were not happy with, but after Bob Clearmountain got to work on some of the tracks the label were making noises that this Comfort would be one of their priorities the following year. The enthusiasm didn't last long and he was dropped by the label soon after although to their credit RCA allowed him to go with the album.
However as High Windows the record was released in Japan although it never built on the success of Drop the Roof. Aided and abetted by his manager Stewart Halperin, the Insoussience Record label was set up (spelt wrong deliberately) and the first release was the appalling Fledgling Operator-originally a great song from the original Valley Sound cassette tape that got Out of my Hair their record deal. But better was to follow.  The Proof of You
Out of the blue Mercury Records contacted Stewart at Insoussience. They had heard the Proof of You and wanted to offer the band a deal. But initial hope turned to despair as they withdrew their interest. They had heard that Comfort was...rather difficult to work with. Trouble. People were talking. And no-one knew who.
Despair. After contemplating putting the last of their money on the roulette wheel, at the 11th hour Oyster Records, a new label, appeared. They not only signed the band but also set about funding the High Windows album into God is in the Detail. New songs were added. The No No People, which was specifically about the near miss of the Mercury Deal and the whispers of others. Bastardos! Ink, a beautiful forlorn song that again reflected a time when hope was fast disappearing and one starts to question who they really are. Let Me Unwind, written after Comfort had parted with IE Management after a strange astral traveling experience. Sweet and Low. The Proof of You remixed by Potter and championed a 2nd time by XFM. And Stop Beating the Beat, remixed by Potter and the flagship single before, out of the blue, Oyster parted ways with their parent company and the whole thing fell apart. Again.  | Comfort-God is in the Detail
Recorded at El Cortijo studios in Spain with the Chris Kimsey and engineered by Chris Potter, mixed, partially in the States by Bob Clearmountain, released in Japan only as High Windows before Comfort was dropped form his label RCA as they were making promises that it would be there 'No1' priority album. Then singles from the album put out under Comfort's own Insoussinece label, rescued from near bankruptcy by Oyster records, remixed again by Potter with new recordings added, one single released with their new label before it folded......God is in the Detail never saw the light of day and is available here and is...A CLASSIC!!!!  XFM radio had just received their full liscence to broadcast in London and EVERYBODY was listening. When the second single The Proof of You was released it was play listed and played to death on XFM and the future looked bright for Comfort. However spiraling costs of the label and the inability to compete with the big boys at the shops brought him close to bankruptcy. The Proof of You never charted even with his huge profile and hope was disappearing!
Insoussience managed to put out one more single which again received good support this time at Radio 1-Mr Rosehip, but by now the game was up and the mechanics of the business were starting to eat away at the enjoyment of music making.   No No People
Let Me Unwind
Live, however, the assembled band were simply amazing. And in one of the shows, during the song The Pain, Comfort had a profound experience. "I disappeared. I actually totally disappeared. In the instrumental section. I went. I came back sometime later and thought my god, what just happened. It was a sensational moment in my life! This is what it s really about I thought".
God is in the Detail represents, in some ways, a move from the material into the spiritual with songs like Is it in My Atmosphere and the afore mentioned Ink and Let me Unwind. It is also the point at which an artist who is in love with making music simply has to STOP or he will go MAD! After this album FRESH was put together from various other material Comfort had been recording, but through the pain and frustration of these times the seeds had been planted in the chaos for his future mission, The International Love Corporation. |
