To quote Stephen Merritt from the classic first album under The 6ths moniker, “Dean Wareham is the guy from Luna who used to be the guy from Galaxie 500”. Now that we are caught up to speed, That’s The Price Of Loving Me is Wareham’s fourth solo album. It’s an atmospheric record that mixes in some cosmic country, Californian singer-songwriter sounds, and dreamy indie pop. Several songs like “Bourgeois Manque” take on a hypnotic quality along with it’s excellent musical bed.
“New Word Julie” is one another fine track with subtly great chorus. The album is bookended by two highlights – “You Were The Ones I Had To Betray” talks of togetherness but with the underlying message of betrayal and “The Cloud Is Coming” where Wareham sings that “There’s no difference between the blue and the red/The cloud is coming for us all”. A haunting but true thought. A quieter release amongst the noise of the world – this is an excellent album.
9/10
The Light Appears 