released November 3, 2017
39th & The Nortons – The Dreamers
The Band
Fabien Gilles - Drums
Loïk Maille– Lead Guitar
Martin Meilhan-Bordes- Bass
Nick Wheeldon – Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Sam Roux- Organ
Honorary Nortons
Paul Trigoulet – Sitar
Stéphane Jach – Violin, Flute
Chris Bartlett – Pedal Steel
Elisa Langdorf – Backing Vocals
Produced by Jaromil Sabor
Mastered by Chris Hardman
Artwork by Folubert Sansonnet
The Dreamers
In Memory of Paul Acaster, Hervé Chiressi, Luke Cable & River Lee.
Thank You:
Alex Studer & Stolen Body Reccords, Laetitia Lacourt & Casbah Records, Folubert Sansonnet, Thom Bettney, Nick Buxton at Basement Studios, Joe at Hey Man Booking, Baldo, Karen Androdge, Nina Roullin, Madame Réve, Joel Robson, Olly Baxter, Thibault Cuzol, Vincent Vauchez, Guillaume Meynard, Milles Coombes, Coline Loison, Psychotic Reaction, Fanny Chiressi, Caroline Gilles, Manuel Gomez, Stéphane Guichard & Elsa Sadet, Stéphane Gillet & Ruth Geronimo, Chiens de Faïence, Bootchy Temple, Thee Congers, The Shaking Whips, Factotum & Taous Humm, Still Charon, Tom Howlin Banana, Jonny Wood, Fuzzoraptors & Kimberly Miller.
Reviews
From Harmonic Distortion
(This review first appeared in issue #74 of Shindig! magazine.)
What started as the bedroom project of Nick Wheeldon (Os Noctàmbulos) has blossomed into a new line-up including members of Bootchy Temple and Jaromil Sabor. Though they've only been together since the start of the year it's clear this Paris-based quintet has some serious alchemy going on. The sound of The Dreamers may have roots in garage rock but there's an optimism, an openess, a sense of possibility and a passion here that's not often found in the genre.
The songs are all melodically memorable but what really sets them apart is the genuine emotional delivery. In that sense The Dreamers owes as much to soul or gospel as it does scratchy garage punk. This is the third attempt at recording a follow up to 2012's On Trial, the first two sets of recordings deemed not up to scratch. It's worth the wait. From the heart, strangely uplifting and an unexpected gem.
harmonicdistort.blogspot.com/2018/08/39th-nortons-dreamers.html
Rock à La Casbah
Un petit rewind s’impose.
Souvenez-vous, en 2012, 39th & The Nortons sortait leur premier album, On Trial, compilation Nuggets à elle toute seule qui vous plongeait pile, entre 65 et 68. Side project du chanteur d’Os Noctambulos (Nick Wheeldon – que je déclare officiellement la plus belle voix du garage franco-anglais), 39th & the Nortons nous avait alors servi quelques pépites pleines de reverb sur le plateau de la nostalgie. Véritable gloubi-boulga psyché complètement fantasmé qui voyait The Seeds, Thane Russal et Kim Fowley batifoler sur les mêmes pistes (Ré-écoutez "I can’t do it", "On the run" et "Don’t look back" ou même "I’m a creep", single sorti un an après), On Trial avait infusé en nous le désir de vivre une époque révolue et de nous tailler (les filles du moins) une frange illico presto.
5 ans plus tard, Nick Wheeldon revient entouré de quatre musiciens : Loik Maille de Jaromil Sabor à la guitare, Fabien Gilles de Mille Colombes à la batterie, Martin Meilhan-Bordes et Sam Roux de Bootchy Temple respectivement à la basse et aux claviers. Avec la crème de la crème réunie au sein de 39th & The Nortons, vous voilà en possession de The Dreamers, un album qui fait, lui aussi, un saut de 5 piges dans le temps et qui vous fout le curseur pile à la fin des années 60. Pas avant, pas après. Et si ça se joue à un poil de cul près, c’est parce que The Dreamers fait planer les fantômes de Gene Clark, de Gram Parsons, des Doors, de Love ou encore de Buffalo Springfield au-dessus de la platine. Country-rock irréprochable, teintée de folk et de psyché, les 10 titres séduisent par leur immédiateté, la fluidité de leurs mélodies et l’élégance des arrangements.
Des ballades d’une beauté à déglinguer votre Itunes ou votre diamand ("If It's So Easy"), la jouissance de l’anachronisme (tout l’album), les notes cosmiques et indianisantes propres aux Bootchy ("Lookin' For Tears"), cette patte si anglaise et si sixties ("On My Own"), le spectre puissant de Jim Morrisson ("The Dreamers" – le genre de titre tellement parfait que l’on est persuadé que l’on écoutera jamais, jamais rien de mieux après) : le deuxième album de 39th & The Nortons vous envahit d’une douce nostalgie, d’un fluide chaud et lumineux et du désir saugrenu de vivre en noir et blanc.
Bref, le genre d’album fait pour bouleverser une poignée de fans qui espèreront secrètement et très égoistement que le reste du monde, le voisin, les potes n’en prennent jamais connaissance.
Words by Laetitia Lacourt
www.casbah-records.com/webzine/39th-nortons
Long Player Late Blogger
Nous avons côtoyé le sublime, West Coast Pop Art Experimental, Big Star, The Pretty Things...
Les temps ont changé, et le fait majeur de ce nouvel album de 39TH & THE NORTONS, c'est d'être sans indulgence pour notre époque.
Après ON TRIAL en 2012 qui semblait réparer l'injustice d'un grand oublié d'une compilation NUGGETS, THE DREAMERS, lui, s'affronte au perfectionnisme.
Ni plus, ni moins.
Il renoue en cela avec le sublime, évoqué plus haut, construit brique par brique, et culmine telle une cheminée de hauts fourneaux.
Nick Wheeldon et sa bande, toujours en fusion, n'ont négligé aucun détail, à l'instar du graphisme de cette pochette, accomplie et prometteuse.
Ne manque plus que la clameur du public.
Words by Elliot Alderson
Mark Losing Today
On 'Golden Sand'...Heading out shortly on stolen body, we’ve just taken delivery of downloads for the new long-playing platter from 39th and the nortons, incidentally titled ‘the dreamers’, which despite not having had as yet a chance to hear, can admit to being mildly smitten by the teaser track ‘golden sands’. You can feel the warmth peeling off this, it’s smoky haloing of tropical breezes and its subtly soft melodic purring hinted in a mellowing and radiant after burn usher in a coolly coalescing pop crafting that finds a safe spot sitting distantly somewhere between gram parsons and the beachwood sparks.
marklosingtoday.wordpress.com/2017/10/18/39th-and-the-nortons/
Far Out Magazine
At a first glance the name 39th and The Nortons might have you thinking you’ve stumbled across an old Stax or Decca soul 45. While that’d be might cool indeed, the truth is just about as cool.
39th and The Nortons features Nick Wheeldon of the French psych rockers Os Noctambulos and one’s first reading of this information and indeed the song title ‘Golden Sand’ was going to make us think this outfit was going to have some more of those wild howls, whoops and hollers you usually find on the ‘Back from The Grave’ records.
Audio prejudices put aside, what we have here is some very charming and thoughtful indie pop which calls upon a string quartet to douse the Allah-las style guitars in orchestral velvet. ‘Warm’ and ‘Grand’ are overused words in the realm of music journalism but fortunately for us, this isn’t the case this time. Think more about Real Estate, Broken Social Scene and newest Black Lips record this time around. Hell it’s ELO if Jeff Lynne was confined to a tiny garage.
‘Golden Sand’ is the first single coming from upcoming LP ‘The Dreamers’ and it’s shaping up to be another home run in the Stolen Body Records already interesting and diverse canon.
Words by Jack Whatley
faroutmagazine.co.uk/a-shining-new-song-golden-sand-from-39th-and-the-nortons/
Whisperin' & Hollering
This is the once bedroom solo project of the prolific Nick Wheeldon, leader of the amazing Os Noctambulos. This project has now morphed into a five piece psychedelic folk group for the follow up to 2012's "On Trial".
That album garnered rave reviews for its take on Dylan's thin wild mercury sound. Described as swimming in the Cosmic America Music of the late sixties the first thing that strikes me about this album is how British sounding it is. More akin to Gerry and the Pacemakers or even Richard Hawley than to Gram Parsons and I mean no disrespect when I say that.
Sure it sounds American but with a feel of Big Beat ballad-esque pop music about the fringes. This may be in part due to the massive amounts of reverb everything is drenched in and whilst this does authenticate the sound it does seem a bit excessive at times. This is , however, a minor criticism because once you take it for a few spins you realise it is a good album.
"Golden Sand" is a perfect pop song and sounds exactly like a 'golden oldie'. Another big feature of the album is the classic organ sound which permeates most if not all the tracks, as on "I Ain't Hiding" which could be an early Stones single. "Without You" is a bit more 'home on the range' and the title track even has a touch of The Doors about it. "Destroy Me" is a torch type ballad with organ leading the music again and "Deserve Each Other" mines similar territory before "Lookin' For Tears" gives us a widescreen finish.
It is a little too dated for my liking but it's still undeniable "The Dreamers" is a solid album packed full of good songs.
7/10
Words by Leo Newbiggin
www.whisperinandhollerin.com/reviews/review.asp?id=13879
From Louder Than War
Nick Wheeldon, lead singer in Parisian garage rock combo Os Noctambulos returns with his side project 39th & The Nortons. Louder Than War’s Craig Chaligne reviews.
A lot has happened since 39th & The Nortons’s first album was released back in 2012. What was originally a one man band with Nick playing most of the instruments himself has now become a fully fledged band with members of the Parisian garage rock scene joining Nick to record this second effort (after two attempts to record a follow up were scrapped by Nick). While the first album “On Trial” owned its inspiration to Love’s first two LP’s (if they had swapped Arthur Lee for Sky Saxon on lead vocals), this second effort leans towards a poppier approach with Wheeldon’s vocals more upfront in the mix.
Bringing in new musicians has also resulted in a more varied sound (Loik Maille of Jaromil Sabor on guitar, Fabien Gilles from Mille Colombes on drums and Martin Meilhan-Bordes & Sam Roux from the talented Bootchy Temple on bass and keys respectively). The sparse intro of “If It’s So Easy” builds into a country-soul crescendo while “Golden Sand”‘s lush harmonies combined with sweet chord arrangements make for one the catchiest track on the record. “I Ain’t Hiding” harks back to the sound of the first album with its layers of Farfisa and chiming guitars as does the stomping march “Step Into Your World” (albeit with some rather more intricate arrangements). “Without You” while sharing its title with the Badfinger song, has a completely different angle on a breakup as it defiantly celebrates newfound freedom rather than loss. “On My Own Time” jangles along nicely with its carefully layered guitars and the intro to “Destroy Me” shows the band stretching its wings stylistically with Wheeldon just backed by strings while “Deserve Each Other” is a psychedelic number with a great chorus. The album finishes on “Lookin’ For Tears”, probably the records most intricate arrangement with a lengthy instrumental passage in the middle of the song.
Words by Craig Challigne
louderthanwar.com/39th-nortons-dreamers-album-review/
Les Oreilles Curieuses
Il y a cinq ans pile, un groupe parisien avait fait ses premières impressions avec leur premier album nommé On Trial. Il s’agissait du groupe 39th & The Nortons qui est en réalité le side-project de Nick Wheeldon qui est également leader du groupe Os Noctambulos. Après quelques années d’absence, il fait appel à quatre autres membres pour remettre la machine en marche pour un second opus intitulé The Dreamers.
Avec l’aide du guitariste Loik Maille (Jaromil Sabor), du batteur Fabien Gilles (Mille Colombes), du bassiste Martin Meilhan-Bordes et du claviériste Sam Roux du groupe Bootchy Temple, 39th & The Nortons nous offre un second disque de folk psychédélique d’une maîtrise plutôt incroyable. S’ouvrant sur les accents country-soul de « If It’s So Easy », The Dreamers nous offre un moment de douceur insoupçonné notamment avec « Golden Sand », « I Ain’t Hiding » contenant sa farfisa hypnotique sans oublier les arrangements somptueux et presque militaires de « Step Into The World ».
Presque aucun titre n’est à jeter car Nick Wheeldon et ses acolytes nous envoûtent avec des perles musicales notamment avec « On My Own Time », « Destroy Me » ou encore le psychédélique « Deserve Each Other ». Il ne manque plus qu’une conclusion magistrale du nom de « Lookin’ For Tears » avec son pont instrumental des plus réussis pour prouver que The Dreamers est un opus magique de la part d’un groupe qui ne cherche qu’à en découdre.
Note: 7.5/10
lesoreillescurieuses.com/2017/11/18/39th-and-the-nortons-the-dreamers/
