"When A Light Goes Out" by The Specials Family
Review
When The Specials reconvened in 2008, they managed without Jerry. They also withstood the subsequent departures of Neville & Roddy. They even managed to carry on after Brad passed away. However the loss of Terry in 2022 did mean the final stop on the journey & so the prospect of further new music was permanently halted.
And in technical terms, I suppose that's true, but today (on what should have been Terry's 66th birthday) there comes out a fitting & moving coda to their story under the name of "The Specials Family". Since it features both Lynval & Horace from the original configuration plus a host of latter day Specials such as Nikolaj Torp Larsen, Steve Cradock, Kenrick Rowe and Hannah Hu along with a writing contribution from Mark Adams who was in the often overlooked 1990s "Mark 2 Specials" "When A Light Goes Out" is pretty authentic as a last statement from the band.
Dedicated to the memory of Terry & Brad & all the other departed musicians from the artists signed to Two Tone Records, the song (available in it's original form & appropriately in a dub version by Roger Rivas) did fill me with some trepidation when I heard of it. Getting the tone correct for any tribute to a deceased individual can be tricky: there are so many mawkish, or sentimental or excessively virtue signalling attempts out there (remember "I Remember Elvis Presley (The King Is Dead)"?). I wasn't sure how this could be done for any of them, let alone collectively, while sticking to their innate philosophy.
I suppose I should have known better: this is a really fine song & if they have to finish with it, it stands up with the rest of the catalogue entirely on its own merits as a song. I anticipated finding it a hard emotional listen, and while it inevitably does pull on the heartstrings, it's enjoyable too.
I suspect that Lynval's trademark optimism shaped the writing (he's credited with "25%" along with Mark and Nikolaj and the rest shared between Horace, Hannah & Jesse Wagner who also contributes backing vocals): the song projects a sunny positivity & is in a lovers rock style (interestingly one The Specials never really got into before) which is impossible not to love. If it's sending that emotion out to the dedicatees and the audience then it does its job well.
When you listen to it, you probably may pass over the fact that it is released by The Specialized Project. That's fitting. This was founded in 2011 by Paul Williams (and now run by him alongside Paul Ayriss) to raise funds for The Teenage Cancer Trust and has developed into a social enterprise helping young people in difficult circumstances, and has put out a series of albums, often themed around covers of particular artists (The Specials, The Clash, The Jam, The Wailers, The Beat, Glam Rock, The Rat Pack etc) plus annual gigs. These are certainly not stopping (I understand that they are preparing yet another album, this one focussing upon "female music icons" and the Big One annual event at Dawlish on July 5th with satellite ones elsewhere.
Lynval is patron of this great initiative & both he & other members of the band appear across the albums covering the work of others. I have particularly enjoyed The Spammed's (that's Horace working with Rat Scabies, the late great Neil Innes, Kevin Eldon and Micko Westmoreland). take on the likes of "Tommy Gun", "I Shot The Sheriff", "To Be Someone (Didn't We Have A Nice Time)", "Get It On", "Louie Louie" and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding". If you've not explored that particular path, then I recommend it.
Few bands get to choose their swansong: this one have & it's a great one to go out on.
