Jasmine Minks – ‘When They Fall’ from ‘We Make Our Own History’

If there were identifiable themes in the Unpopular listening throughout 2023 then one of them may have been that of artists roused from periods of slumber delivering gratifyingly mature works. Jasmine Minks’ hiatus in reality has never been that long, for various incarnations have performed and released a couple of excellent singles in the past four or five years. That said, it is nearly a decade since the last comprehensive compilation (‘Cut Me Deep – The Anthology 1984-2014’) and nearly two since ‘The Revenge Of…’ featured my photograph of children running on Troon Beach. It’s even longer since a full album of new material appeared (2001’s ‘Popartglory’), so ‘We Make Our Own History’ was indeed a welcome return from the hinterland. How old does THAT makes us feel?

Unlike the more experimental approach taken on ‘Popartglory’, ‘We Make Our Own History’ is more comprehensively identifiable as Classic Minks. It’s songs may be, on the whole, just a little more awkward around the edges, but its infusion of Power Pop, Punk, and Soul sources at least approaches the heady heights of their early Creation years output such as their eponymous classic from 1986 and 1988’s peerless ‘Another Age’. There may be nothing to touch the heady brilliance of, say, ‘Cut Me Deep’ or ‘Cold Heart’ here, but cuts like rousing opener ‘She Knows’ and the brittle, beautiful ‘She Broke More Than Just Your Mother’s Heart’ do much to assure us that Jasmine Minks in 2023 are as essential as they ever were.

The best is saved for last, however, and album closer ‘When They Fall’ is a psych-cloaked piece of folk reflection that comes across like ‘The Notorious Byrd Brothers’ and Pentangle slow dancing, gently mad in the mist and snow. A perfect ending to a splendid outing.