The Last Romance is the sixth and final studio album by Arab Strap

Arab Strap (band)

Arab Strap were an indie rock band from Scotland that consisted of core members Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, and split in 2006...

, released on October 17, 2005 on Chemikal Underground

Chemikal Underground

Chemikal Underground is an independent record label set up in 1994 by Glasgow, Scotland rock band The Delgados. It was set up to release their first single, "Monica Webster" / "Brand New Car" and went on to break many new Scottish bands in the nineties....

. Upon release, vocalist Aidan Moffat

Aidan Moffat

Aidan John Moffat is a Scottish vocalist and musician, best known for his work with Malcolm Middleton in Arab Strap.-Early life:...

 stated that the album is "a lot more upbeat, but still deals with some of the darker aspects of relationships. It's like the dark side in Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

 though – quicker, faster, more seductive."

Moffat also noted his desire for the album "to be shorter, more immediate. If our previous albums could be considered "hard work", I wanted this one to be a slap in the face. I felt it was important we didn't make the same album over ten years, so this one was going to be more digestible and a lot louder."

Following the album's release, Arab Strap announced that it would be their last. Moffat stated that: "there’s no animosity, no drama. We simply feel we’ve run our course. The Last Romance seems the most obvious and logical final act of the Arab Strap studio adventure. Everybody likes a happy ending."

Accolades

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
The Skinny	Scotland	Scottish Albums of the Decade	2009	25

Overview

This album continues the snide lyrical style for which Arab Strap are renowned. The first line of the opening song begins "...burn these sheets that we've just fucked in...". However, there are some more optimistic songs, such as "There Is No Ending". There are only 3 acoustic songs on this album, which has a rock-oriented sound, with influences from bands like Mogwai

Mogwai

The word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:...

.

The sleeve artwork on the front contains a collage

Collage

A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....

 of four faces, flowers, a wolf and a skull. It was designed by Australian illustrator Rik Lee, whose previous work features many of the images seen on the sleeve artwork. The inside contains the lyrics hand-written in a notebook-style layout.

Track listing

• All songs written by Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton.

1. "Stink" – 2:16
2. "(If There's) No Hope for Us" – 3:57
3. "Chat in Amsterdam, Winter 2003" – 3:19
4. "Don't Ask Me to Dance" – 4:00
5. "Confessions of a Big Brother" – 3:36
6. "Come Round and Love Me" – 2:58
7. "Speed-Date" – 3:07
8. "Dream Sequence" – 4:15
9. "Fine Tuning" – 2:54
10. "There Is No Ending" – 5:33

US copies include two extra tracks:

1. "El Paso Song" – 3:57
2. "Go Back to the Sea" – 3:53

Arab Strap

• Aidan Moffat
  Aidan Moffat
  Aidan John Moffat is a Scottish vocalist and musician, best known for his work with Malcolm Middleton in Arab Strap.-Early life:...
  
   - words, drums, organ etc.
• Malcolm Middleton
  Malcolm Middleton
  Malcolm Bruce Middleton is a Scottish musician best known for his work with Aidan Moffat in post-folk indie band Arab Strap as well as his solo career writing and producing...
  
   - guitars, bass, piano etc.

Additional musicians

• Geoff Allan - vocals ("There is No Ending")
• Alan Barr - cello ("Stink", "Confessions of a Big Brother")
• Barry Burns
  Barry Burns
  Barry Burns is a Scottish musician best known for his work with post-rock band Mogwai.-Early life:Burns went to Cardinal Newman High School in Bellshill before enrolling with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, taking up a Bachelor of Education degree in teaching music. He did...
  
   - organ ("Come Round and Love Me"), piano ("Dream Sequence")
• David Jeans
  David Jeans
  David Jeans , known as Jeansy, is a Scottish drummer. Born in Edinburgh, David has played drums with The Complete Stone Roses, The Zephyrs and Arab Strap.-Biography:...
  
   - drums ("(If There's) No Hope For Us", "Don't Ask Me to Dance", "Speed-Date", "Dream Sequence")
• Jon McCue - vocals ("There is No Ending")
• Nicola MacLeod - vocals ("(If There's) No Hope For Us", "Come Round and Love Me")
• Jenny Reeve - violin ("Come Round and Love Me", "There is No Ending")
• Andrew Savage - vocals ("There is No Ending")
• Allan Wylie - trumpet ("Speed-Date", "There is No Ending")

Recording personnel

• Paul Savage
  Paul Savage
  Paul Savage is a Scottish musician and record producer, best known for being the drummer in the Scottish indie rock group The Delgados.-Early life:...
  
   - recording, producer
• Geoff Allan - recording, producer
• Arab Strap
  Arab Strap (band)
  Arab Strap were an indie rock band from Scotland that consisted of core members Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, and split in 2006...
  
  - producer
• Morten Bue - mastering