Element of Light

Element of Light is the sixth album by singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock and his third with his backing band, the Egyptians.

Most of the album was recorded at Alaska Studios and Berry Street, but two tracks, "The President" and "Lady Waters & The Hooded One", were live recordings made for the BBC, with overdubs recorded on BBC Mobile and at Alaska.

The overriding flavour of the album is dominated by the song "Airscape", which provides in its lyric the album title. "Airscape" has been cited several times by Hitchcock as a favourite amongst his own compositions, and a live rendition was tagged on to later CD editions. "Airscape" concerns his 'favourite beach' located on the Isle of Wight, and provided a backdrop for the cover shots.

The other songs encompass a variety of lyrical themes: the piscine "Bass" turning inventively through a litany of fish and sea birds, "Ted, Woody & Junior" mocking the homoeroticism of body building magazines, and "Winchester" paying a surreal tribute to the English town that lies on the main train line between London and the Lymington terminus, which connects to the Isle of Wight.

The song "The President" makes reference to Ronald Reagan's visit to Bitburg, where members of the Waffen-SS were buried.^[1]

Originally running to ten songs, the first CD edition included extra bonus tracks, all taken from singles, whilst later pressings have added a further six, including the comedic spoken number "The Can Opener".

The album was self-produced with input from long-time colleague Pat Collier.

Track listing

All songs written by Robyn Hitchcock.

Side one

1. "If You Were a Priest"
2. "Winchester"
3. "Somewhere Apart"
4. "Ted, Woody and Junior"
5. "The President"

Side two

1. "Raymond Chandler Evening"
2. "Bass"
3. "Airscape"
4. "Never Stop Bleeding"
5. "Lady Waters & the Hooded One"

CD reissue bonus tracks

1. "The Black Crow Knows"
2. "The Crawling"
3. "The Leopard"
4. "Tell Me About Your Drugs"
5. "The Can Opener"
6. "Raymond Chandler Evening (Demo)"
7. "The President (Demo)"
8. "If You Were a Priest (Demo)"
9. "Airscape (Live)"
10. "The Leopard (Demo)"

Personnel

• Robyn Hitchcock - Guitar, vocals, upright piano on "Somewhere Apart"
• Andy Metcalfe - Bass. vocals on "Winchester", "Ted, Woody and Junior", "Bass", "Lady Waters & the Hooded One", piano on "Ted, Woody and Junior", bass keyboard on "Raymond Chandler Evening", keyboard on "Never Stop Bleeding"
• Morris Windsor - Drums, vocals on "Ted, Woody and Junior", "Bass", "Airscape","Lady Waters & the Hooded One"
• Roger Jackson - Keyboards, glass harmonica on "Airscape", vocals on "Lady Waters & the Hooded One"

References