"Hello Glastonbury," says Johnny Bramwell of eternal Northern pessimists, I Am Kloot. "I never thought I'd f**kin' say that," he muses.
But quite why this band should continue to adopt the stance of the luckless unloved when their lead singer is now clearly one of the most talented songwriters around will remain a mystery to most of this crowd. The second, eponymous, Kloot album, soon to be released, shoves home the promise of 'Natural History' with a richer sound fleshing out his fine, timeless tales of love, rain and disappointment.
New track, 'A Strange Arrangement Of Colour', rides on a jazz cymbal, bringing precious movement to this tent of boys with guitars. On another new song, 'Your Favourite Sky', Bramwell's incisive prose conjures all that's mysterious and magical in human relationships as he addresses a lover with the question loaded with uncertainty: "Who am I to pull the stars from your favourite sky?"
"I was going to say 'this is a new track' but I wasn't sure if you were familiar with the old ones," he deadpans. But closing track, 'Life In A Day', could have been written at any time in the last 40 years, so free is it of any need for context or an anchor in the present.
Kloot had better get used to being loved. If they return next year, they'll be on the Other Stage at sundown and the crowd will know all the songs.
