The Clientele is a band that feels like the best-kept secret in your music library. A contemporary trio with a long-standing rap sheet of intimate, lo-fi indie rock with a 60’s slant by way of the 90’s, The Clientele are a group that transcends nominations by wearing many different hats perfectly. Across 9 albums, this three-piece has folded every possible form of baroque and pop into their metropolitan sophisti-rock. Their latest record, however, I Am Not There Anymore, truly feels like something different. A heart-baring record that features musings on love, mortality, innocence and selfhood, The Clientele’s 9th album contains many twists on their usual formula, creating beautiful soundscapes across baroque and even musique concrete interludes. There are spoken word orchestral freakouts, programmed-drum dancefloor fillers, and wild blasts of horns all over this record. A stoic, stunning album with frontman/lead songwriter Alasdair MacLean reflecting on memories of his mother’s passing over a quarter century ago, I Am Not There Anymore is both a calming excise of emotion, as well as a bold and comforting step forward for these UK indie darlings. 

So, when presented with the opportunity to see The Clientele at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, embarking on their first U.S. tour in 6 years, I couldn’t pass it up. A well known venue and a space with the perfect sense of intimacy, I was eager to see how the new record, and my personal favorites across their discography, would sound live.

Frontman + Guitarist Alasdair MacLean

The setlist was a perfect blend of classic songs and new material. The show kicked off with the sultry, bossa nova-inspired “Claire’s Not Real,” with Alistair’s lilting voice carrying the audience’s full attention, while drummer Mark Keen and bassist James Hornsey provided a perfect underbed of sweeping rhythms. They followed this up with the classic Strange Geometry cut, “Since K Got Over Me,” offering a surreal point of contrast between the jangly indie pop of their earlier work and the baroque maturity of their contemporary records. Not to discredit their older songs! The Clientele have always demonstrated their knack for writing catchy, earnest, and warm songs, whether dissecting the icy nature of breakups or the existentialism of losing a loved one. 

My favorite song from I Am Not There Anymore followed, the piano-heavy and somber “Chalk Flowers,” an 8-verse stream of consciousness dirge breaking down the feeling of when a place that used to mean everything becomes completely foreign to you. A lovelorn, meandering song, and a true gem from the new album. Then came “Garden Eye Mantra,” a dubby track with a wandering guitar that leads regal strings into an echoed and claustrophobic dirge. The songs from I Am Not There Anymore translated wonderfully to the live setting; masterfully orchestrated songs that are deeply layered. 

Drummer Mark Keen

They followed these new tracks with a fan favorite from their debut, 2000’s Suburban Light, “We Could Walk Together.” MacLean introduced it as “an older song,” and after a false start, laughed to himself and said “so old, but I still don’t know how to play it!” The audience loved it. There seemed to be a warm affection between the band and the audience that night. At one point, Alasdair even thanked us, saying “The Clientele wouldn’t be here today without New York;” the crowd roared at that, and the bond between band and fan felt full and real. 

A few more new tracks followed, “Hey Siobhan” and the emotionally potent “Lady Grey,” with the bombshell lyric “My mother taught me how to die / It’s like playing hide and seek” before bringing the house to a roar with the classics “Lamplight,” and their most disarming song (plus my first Clientele song), “Reflections After Jane.” A lush, fuzzy lullaby a-la Velvet Underground, no song is more representative of the true magic of The Clientele from their earliest days. A hypnotizing and intoxicating reverb daydream, a perfect anthem for sonder, and the true mission statement of The Clientele. A masterpiece of a song.

Bassist James Hornsey

A brief encore followed, which featured another massive classic song by the group, “I Can’t Seem to Make You Mine.” While I’m sure they had some other songs planned (I know they did, I saw the setlist), some diehard fans in the audience insisted the group play “Bonfires on the Heath,” the title track from their 2009 album. Alasdair replied cheekily, “Alright we’ll play ‘Bonfires,’ but if it’s bad that’s on you!” The crowd laughed and cheered, and were immediately coaxed into the sultry guitar-led twangfest. A gentle comedown song to bring us all back down to earth, and to put a perfect final beat on the evening.

The Clientele are a deceptively formidable act to see live. Approaching 3 decades as a band, and showing no signs of slowing down creatively, it proved to be a spectacular night of music from a band that, at this point, should be seen as an indie rock institution. I Am Not There Anymore demonstrates the culmination of all the hats they’ve worn over the years, and has shown itself to be a haunting, gorgeous, and captivating part of The Clientele live lexicon. Here’s hoping they don’t wait 6 years to come back.