Croydon Guardian, March 2002
Departure Lounge - Too late to die young (Bella Union)

Based in Nashville, Paris and Brighton, indie outfit Departure Lounge has been around since the early part of 1998 writes Keith D'Souza. Following on from their previous albums 'Out of Here' and 'Jetlag Dreams', the band prepares to take off once again with their new release 'Too late to die young'.

Comprising of a cosmic-like ensemble of percussion, lyrics and instruments, 'Too late..' mixes country influences and soft indie beats. There are some quite exquisite tracks on this album. 'Straight line to the kerb' has almost a fairy-like aura whilst listening to it, with the elastic 'King Kong Frown' cheekily bouncing its way though. The other tracks are of equal quality, but I especially enjoyed 'I love you', a song that reminded me of John Lennon's 'Woman', and the atmospheric 'Tubular Belgians in my Goldfield' which has a ghostly mystique about it.

If there is anything to criticise about this album, well, it's almost non-existent. However, the American flavoured 'Coke and Flakes' sounds more like a journeying train than a piece of music - it's indecisive as to whether it wants to be a country or indie tune.

'Too late to die young' is a great vibe to chill out to - one of those albums that makes a summer special, but which equally glows warmly on a winter morning. Departure Lounge is a band that enjoys what they do by stirring the senses with their own style of rhythms. This is a very good album indeed.