Tea & Symphony (The English Baroque Sound 1968-1974)

Bob Stanley’s look at melancholic orchestrated art pop from the UK from the indicated era is a bit unusual due to a very strangely specific circumstance. There’s actually two almost entirely different compilations by this name, with the first originally surfacing on the Sanctuary label in 2007 shortly before said label’s sudden collapse, rendering it an instant rarity. Years later, rather than arranging for a rerelease of it on Ace, Stanley kept the title but often substituted other tracks from its featured acts on a new version, as well as adding some wholly new names. In its second edition, Tea & Symphony easily confirms Stanley’s argument in the liner notes for Paul McCartney’s impact on the sound as such; Ray Brooks’s opening “Pictures” may be a lament for a lost pet but the sound is all wistful singalong elegance. The entirety is a perfect quiet-Sunday-afternoon listen, but standouts include the Brian Wilson-tinged “When The City Sleeps” by Bombadil, Colin Blunstone’s lovely post-Zombies hit “Say You Don’t Mind,” Honeybus’s “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” and Vigrass & Osbourne’s shimmering “Forever Autumn.”