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The Chemistry Set — An Introduction to the Chemistry Set
(Fruits de Mer intro 9, 2025, 2CD / DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2025-05-08

An Introduction to the Chemistry Set Cover art

The next Fruits de Mer Records retrospective release is a double CD set of music by the cult London band The Chemistry Set, founded by Dave Mclean and Paul Lake in 1987. They began their career with some cassette releases and eventually migrated to CD and ultimately vinyl on Fruits de Mer. The new retrospective set contains two and a half hours of music from the Fruits de Mer back catalog plus some other tunes, all remastered for An Introduction to The Chemistry Set. In amongst the 32 tracks, selected by Dave and Paul because these are their favorites, are covers of Jimi Hendrix’ “Love or Confusion,” Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” Mark Fry’s “The Witch,” Del Shannon’s “Silver Birch,” the Moody Blues’ “Legend of a Mind,” and Kaleidoscope’s “Faintly Blowing.” In addition there are five tracks from This Day Will Never Happen Again, their album released before they discovered Fruits de Mer. The other tracks are from a variety of Fruits de Mer releases, most of which we’ve covered over the years. Of special note are the inclusion of the two lathe-cut solo efforts of Dave and Paul, especially since the fidelity of lathe cuts is below par. Now you can hear these two cover tunes in their full glorious sonic splendor. Trippy, mind-blowing fuzzed guitars, phased guitars, jangle guitars, raga rock, Mellotron, organ, studio trickery, etc. enhance the cover tunes as well as all the original tracks. Truly a psychedelic extravaganza of acid-drenched songs. You won’t be disappointed. The Chemistry Set’s discography now numbers at 54 releases and counting, and since they revived their career in 2008, every one of their singles and albums has sold out on release. Many thanks to Fruits de Mer for reissuing this set of excellent neo-psych music, but with only a limited run of 300 copies, An Introduction to The Chemistry Set could sell out upon its May 9, 2025 release just as fast as their other releases. But good news, The Chemistry Set is working on a follow-up to their 2022 album Pink Felt Trip and they intend to release a 7” vinyl single later this year.

Filed under: Archives, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): The Chemistry Set

More info
http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/chemsetintro.html

 

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