It was only once the smoke had cleared from the early 1980s explosion of Scottish indie (Simple Minds, Orange Juice, The Associates) that Glasgow band The Blue Nile finally made their quiet but formidable emergence. A Walk Across The Rooftops is one of the most exquisitely orchestrated pop albums ever made, a timeless, finely detailed arrangement of funky bass, delicate strings and synth flourishes, not least on the title track. "Tinseltown In The Rain"s dark-hued musical watercolours and flashes of light and shade paint a vivid picture of the city at night--coupled with Paul Buchanan's wistfully romantic lyrics, this album captures with almost cinematic resonance late evening walks along deserted, neon-lit puddled streets turning over thoughts in your mind of a loved one. Broody, bittersweet and wonderful. --David Stubbs
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