Lloyd Cole

Photo credit: Doug Seymour for Lloyd Cole.

English singer-songwriter Lloyd Cole never intended for the Retrospective tour to be a tour. Writing on his blog in December 2017, Cole expresses pleasant surprise: “it was supposed to be a one time thing, but it has proved to be my most successful tour in decades. There is more demand for the show and so the show will go on.” That’s exactly what’s happened, and on March 7, Lloyd brings his showcase of early years material to Exeter’s Corn Exchange. Tickets are _exceptionally _well priced at £21, and (for you Lloyd Cole aficionados) the evening’s material spans 1983–1996, including work with and without the Commotions.

A singer-songwriter in university in the early 1980s, Lloyd Cole’s first album, recorded with backing band the Commotions, was hugely successful upon release, with a further two albums spawning a number of hits for the group amongst them, Perfect Skin, Lost Weekend, Forest Fire and Jennifer She Said. As a solo artist, Lloyd has maintained a steady string of contemporary releases and just recently, released a six-disc box-set of his American recordings 1988–1996, entitled Lloyd Cole in New York.

Overwhelming demand for the Retrospective tour has kept it going into 2018 and not without good reason. Combining a wry, scholastic way with words, and a keen, indie-tinged ear for melody, Lloyd Cole’s songwriting combines the sharp wit of the ‘80s’ English indie period with a personable timelessness that makes the prospect of hearing old tricks, new and exciting. This is not to be missed – not unless you’re finally ready to be heartbroken…