My Beautiful England

My Beautiful England was produced by Des Lambert.

In his book Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids?, Nige Tassell notes that My Beautiful England is Westlake’s first all-new album since Play Dusty for Me twenty years ago, and that former Servants bandmate Luke Haines plays guitar on the recording.^[3]

Writing for Uncut, Johnny Sharp rated the album eight-out-of-ten, calling it “a delight”. “Westlake retains great respect from [the C86] era’s cognoscenti”, he said, and My Beautiful England is “a Britpop concept album from a man who’d surely wince at either label”.^[1]

In an in-depth review for Louder Than War, Neil Davenport gave the album a five-out-of-five rating, calling it “one of the most idiosyncratic, political and blazingly tuneful guitar pop albums [of 2022]”. “It’s an extraordinary record”, he says, “a contemporary update on George Orwell’s critiques of left intelligentsia found in ‘England Your England’.” “This is high level stuff”, says Davenport; “Not since Malcom Eden’s old band McCarthy (but in a completely different historical context) has there been an attempt to intelligently challenge received wisdom.” Musically, “My Beautiful England simply triumphs as a consistently great, 14-song guitar pop album. It’s packed with some of Westlake’s best songs.”^[2]

Different shows on BBC Radio 6 Music and other BBC stations gave the album regular airplay for several months around its release.^[4][5][6][7]

Side one:

1. "My Beautiful England" – 4:24
2. "War Memorial" – 3:05
3. "The Modern Ruins of Old London Town" – 3:20
4. "Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood" – 3:23
5. "Mallory Kept Climbing the Mountain" – 2:25
6. "E is for the Empire" – 2:38

Side two:

1. "Hayes, Middlesex" – 1:59
2. "English Parish Churches" – 3:37
3. "Regency Terrace" – 2:24
4. "Marie Lloyd" – 2:20
5. "The Crusades" – 2:31
6. "The Age of Unenlightenment" – 2:17
7. "General Gordon’s Last Stand" – 2:38
8. "Au Contraire, Tony Blair" – 2:11

• David Westlake – vocals and guitar
• Luke Haines – guitar
• Des Lambert – bass
• Rob Flanagan – drums
• Dwain Bedford – trumpet