Sight Of You
A REMOTE corner of countryside near Wetherby echoed with more than just agricultural machinery in the late ’80s; indeed, trespassing across one farm, you might have heard the sound of Pale Saints rehearsing in an outbuilding. “We could really make as much noise as we wanted,” remembers bassist and singer Ian Masters. “We would just go up there with cans of beer and do a lot of jamming.”
It was there that the Leeds trio – rehearsing for a pound an hour – came up with “Sight Of You”, perhaps their signature tune and something of a bona fide indie hit. Materialising organically out of an improvisation, and topped with Masters’ low-key, angelic vocals, this infectious, drifting song became the opener of their debut EP for 4AD, “Barging Into The Presence Of God”, and, rerecorded, a highlight of their debut album, 1990’s The Comforts Of Madness.
Along the way they grappled with intense producer Gil Norton, similarly forthright 4AD designer Vaughan Oliver, and even wrangled with Cindy Sherman’s agent in an attempt to use one of her artworks as the album cover. Despite its popularity, though, “Sight Of
You” remains a contentious song for the band, with
Masters admitting it’s “not one of my favourites”.
“It was very much me and Graeme, and then Ian,” says drummer Chris Cooper. “Graeme and I both went to the same school, left at 16, and we’d be going to Elland Road to watch Leeds United every other Saturday, so
