Clinic unveil cover of “I Can’t Stand The Rain”
Photo credit: Sentinel

Clinic unveil cover of “I Can’t Stand The Rain”

As the release of Grammy-nominated Clinic’s ninth album, Fantasy Island, moves closer (due Oct 22nd), the duo is pleased to unveil their delirious cover of Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand The Rain”.


With a video directed by Emily Evans, Clinic describe the song as “a heartbreaking yet supremely uplifting cover of the Ann Peebles classic”. The third track to be released from the upcoming record, Clinic have previously shared “Fine Dining” and the title track, “Fantasy Island”.

A vibrant and eclectic LP, Fantasy Island, was recorded in an old studio on Merseyside during the summer of 2019, with good vibrations seeping into the grooves. Their last album, 2019’s Wheeltappers and Shunters, found the band satirising British culture and wallowing in sleazy Seventies nostalgia. This time they are embracing the “the idea of looking at the future and the different ways it can unfold”, with their most electronic and pop record to date.

Referencing H.G. Wells’ Things to Come, Marshall McLuhan’s The Medium is the Massage and Sombrero Fallout by Richard Brautigan, the themes Clinic explore on this album are time, music and entertainment. In a (coco) nutshell, Clinic have gone funky disco, broadening their sonic palette with the addition of several new gadgets including an electronic acid bass machine, a 1970s cocktail rhythm unit, a Casio digital horn and space drum. This gear comes to the fore in the centrepiece of Fantasy Island, the incredible “Refractions (In the Rain)”, which nods to the Human League with its strident synthesizer lines and danceable beats, with the groovy, swaggering menace that Clinic always bring to the party. 

“It’s a tin of fruit cocktail,” says one of the band, and there is definitely a lighter, more escapist mood to Fantasy Island. As well as the Human League, other musical influences on the album include Fun Boy Three, Kid Creole and the Coconuts and early 1980s pop music, but also Italian Cosmic disco mix tapes and primitive busker elements, such as the Memphis Jug Band and old blues music, which balance the sound and give Fantasy Island its raw energy. Only Clinic are capable of pulling these disparate references together to make a cohesive, thrilling whole with mixing duties handled by Claudius Mittendorfer (Parquet Courts, Neon Indian).

Unfortunately, Clinic have had to cancel the planned September UK live dates due to family illness.

Clinic Fantasy Island

Album | 22nd October 2021

Referencing H.G. Wells’ Things to Come, Marshall McLuhan’s The Medium is the Massage and Sombrero Fallout by Richard Brautigan, the themes Clinic explore on Fantasy Island are time, music and entertainment. In a (coco) nutshell, Clinic have gone funky disco, broadening their sonic palette with the addition of several new gadgets including an electronic acid bass machine, a 1970s cocktail rhythm unit, a Casio digital horn and space drum.

Tracklisting

  • 1The Lamplighter
  • 2Fine Dining
  • 3Take A Chance
  • 4Refractions (In The Rain)
  • 5Dreams Can Come True
  • 6Miracles
  • 7On The Other Side...
  • 8Fantasy Island
  • 9I Can't Stand The Rain
  • 10Feelings
  • 11Hocus Pocus
  • 12Grand Finale

Clinic Fantasy Island

Album | 22nd October 2021

Referencing H.G. Wells’ Things to Come, Marshall McLuhan’s The Medium is the Massage and Sombrero Fallout by Richard Brautigan, the themes Clinic explore on Fantasy Island are time, music and entertainment. In a (coco) nutshell, Clinic have gone funky disco, broadening their sonic palette with the addition of several new gadgets including an electronic acid bass machine, a 1970s cocktail rhythm unit, a Casio digital horn and space drum.

Tracklisting

  • 1The Lamplighter
  • 2Fine Dining
  • 3Take A Chance
  • 4Refractions (In The Rain)
  • 5Dreams Can Come True
  • 6Miracles
  • 7On The Other Side...
  • 8Fantasy Island
  • 9I Can't Stand The Rain
  • 10Feelings
  • 11Hocus Pocus
  • 12Grand Finale
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