Sad Lovers & Giants

Biography

[from a midnight music press release, circa 1989]

  • Garçe - Vocals
  • Tony McGuinness - Guitar
  • Cliff Silver - Bass
  • Juliet Sainsbury - Keyboards
  • Nigel Pollard - Drums & Percussion

SAD LOVERS & GIANTS play classy, alternative pop music. their multi-layered, many-faceted songs have been described by such words as ‘psychedelic’, ‘moody’, ‘exciting’, ‘wistful’, and ‘brooding’. Sweeping keyboards and dramatic piano; chugging, chiming, and eclectic guitars; inventive, melodic bass lines and steady drums with colourful embellishments all contribute to the depth of their sound. integrated into this are the vocals; sometimes confidential, sometimes forceful; always balancing the mood of the charismatic, often mysterious, lyrics. Like the music, the lyrics work on many levels. Just when you think you've unravelled the meaning of a song, another possibility presents itself…

SAD LOVERS & GIANTS’ music is food for the imagination, a film without pictures, to transport you to other, but very real, worlds; or another dimension of our own. Commonplace, everyday situations are studied from different viewpoints at a tangent to reality. 

The reality for SAD LOVERS & GIANTS is that they originally formed in 1981 and split up by the beginning of 1984. Between these dates they released four singles and two LPs, recorded a John Peel session and toured extensively in the UK, Germany and Holland, where they were also featured in a live radio concert; yet while their records sold in every major market, SAD LOVERS & GIANTS remained a cult band. 

After the split, instead of diminishing, interest grew, prompting the release of two further LPs; one comprising the John Peel session with various out-takes, demos and other interesting oddities, the other being the Dutch radio concert. In their absence the cult had become a legend. 

Meanwhile, from early 1985 onwards, moves were being made to resurrect the group and work was started on new material; the lack of which had capitulated the split. By mid-1986 sufficient material of high standard had been assembled and recording commenced in November that year. 

The first release from the reformed line-up was a 12", “Seven Kinds of Sin”, in early 1987, soon followed by an LP, “The Mirror Test”, which picked up the threads from the end of 1983, meeting the challenge of the requirements of the group’s third studio album and bringing their music fresh into the present. The reappearance of the group with new recordings created a great deal of interest with offers for live performances all over Europe. With successful dates in Spain, Holland, France and the UK already, they are now reaching a wider market than ever. A second single from the LP, “White Russians”, with two more songs recorded during the “Mirror Test” sessions, was released in November 1988. Since then the CD of the “Mirror Test” has been released, with 4 extra tracks and revised running order. Work has also been undertaken to release the first 2 LPs on CD with many extra tracks involved. Remixes in January 1988 of “Cow Boys”, “Lost in a Moment” and “The Tightrope Touch” for CD have already enabled the first two of these to be included on a special 12" with “The Best Film He Ever Made” (an alternative recording of “House of Clouds” with completely different lyrics) and an exciting live version of “Things We Never Did”, recorded in Valencia in June 1986. 

Now, original bass guitarist, Cliff Silver, has rejoined the line-up and the group are currently working hard completing material for their fourth studio LP, but in November take time out to tour France and Switzerland with The Essence, with whom they've made a special 12", re-recording two songs together. To tie in with the tour a special compilation spanning the group’s history has been released in France, title “Les Années Vertes”. Side One is studio, Side Two live, including a previously unreleased recording of “Imagination/Cloud 9”. 

Sad Lovers & Giants describe their music as ‘an ethereal journey to the very edge of the imagination’. Their mastery of powerful elegance and gentle ambience is combined with a hint of gothic misadventure. Their live appearances are superb, now better than at any time in their history — faithful to the recordings but with a energy and that certain ‘je ne sais quois’ that lifts a performance to a memorable experience through its power, style and panache.