David Gilmour - Luck & Strange (Sony Music CMG)
Pink Floyd is dead baby. David Gilmour said so. Each time he's been interviewed over his new album Luck & Strange, they ask him about the legendary British prog band he was a part of and it seems the split between him and Roger Waters is irreparable.
Don't fret though as there are 100's of Floyd tributes and at least three of them are brilliant, Nick Mason tours with Saucerful Of Secrets playing the pre-DSOTM material and for a long time David Gilmour has been a solo artist playing with all the emotion and drama he infused into Floyd's music for years.
Luck & Strange is his first solo album for nine years, again it has music written by David himself as the personal, romantic lyrics of Polly Samson, and Charlie Gilmour are sung with that oh so familiar voice, the strain of age starting to show on the title track where the highs break with fragility of a man who is 78 years old.
Much of the record was written and recorded during lockdown, between Brighton and London, alongside, friends, long term collaborators and family perform on the record. Yep Gilmour's daughter Romany sings and plays the harp on the reworking of folk classic, Between Two Points by The Montgolfier Brothers and the final number Yes, I Have Ghosts. Her voice compliments her father's well, with a similar timbre to Dido and many of the UK prog rock acts.
The title track has a long history, presented here in two versions the original elongated 'Barn Jam' version features keys from the much missed Richard Wright. Clad in an atmospheric, esoteric Anton Corbijn cover artwork, Luck & Strange is possibly the darkest, most experimental work to date as co-producer Charlie Andrew pushed him to write music that was naturally opposite to what people would historically expect.
Well that is with the exception of The Piper's Call which is 'Proper Floyd', though A Single Spark owes a debut to the likes of Nick Cave, while Dark And Velvet Nights is a smoky ode to long lasting love/lust and the Beatles-esque Sings which has plenty of Cümbüş Guitar, looks back on David and Polly's life together.
A record of nostalgia, set to a varied musical background that has the distinctive David Gilmour touch, Pink is dead but his spirit carries on here. 9/10
God Is An Astronaut - Embers (Napalm Records)
Hypnotic, sonic soundscapes are the order of the day for any God Is An Astronaut album, whether it's on record or in their live shows, the instrumental prowess and compositional mastery of the band always grabs the audience.
Things are no different on Embers, the latest offering from these Irish post rock veterans and it has brothers Torsten and Niels Kinsella alongside drummer Lloyd Hanney, taking along for another journey through genre and style. Be it post rock, shoegaze, krautrock or psych and many others in between Embers treats you to probably the most buoyant material the band have written, though the concept of our finite existence is the overarching theme of the record. Falling Leaves is dreamy, as Embers takes a synthwave route.
Odyssey leans on folksy acoustics with world music flourishes from Sitar and other eastern instruments as Dara O'Brien (not the comedian) and Sean Coleman bring their multi-instrumental prowess while the majestic Realms and Prism has the cello brilliance of Jo Quail. Another beautiful record from God Is An Astronaut who continue to be at the apex of post rock. 8/10
Vestige - Janis (Season Of Mist)
Vestige is the vessel for vocalist/guitarist Théodore Rondeau to exercise his demons, following an emotional journey that brought some kind of catharsis for all involved not just Théodore. Joining him are Pierre-André Krauzer on the bass, Quentin Regnault on drums and Thomas Petit on guitar.
Krauzer, Regnault and Rondeau were all part of Naraka who toured with Alcest, the reason why Alcest's Neige appears on Automne Part 2. Janis is a debut album that has been a long time coming the end of a personal journey the band signing to Season Of Mist to get their debut out there.
What about the music then? Well Janis is an album of atmospheric post metal similar to Alcest as they shift into the the progressive alt style of Deftones too on Corrosion, the layered guitars playing angular melodies against the grooving backline on Démence De l'Âme, but don't think it's all blissed out ambience, there's a bite to Vestige and while Alcest lean into black metal, they have more modern metal aggression with track such as Appel De l'Âme.
As they drift away with Avant la Fin, Janis ends in a beautiful way, securing Vestige as a band who have a bright future in front of them. 8/10
Copse - MMXXIV (Church Road Records)
MMXXVI is a compilation of both Copse's previous EP's, making a five track album at 40 minutes in length. For fans of bands such as Møl and Deafhaven, you could call Copse blackened shoegaze as dissonance and atmospherics sit hand in hand. There's a surplus of post metal too with Modrem leisurely making its way with a disconcerting ambiance that is broken several times in this 9 minute number.
Much of Copse's power comes from their use of pace and anticipation, the slow burning tracks build into raging flashes of extremity, screamed vocals and blastbeats with Mara the initial display of this, Old Belief the song that is the most direct and ferocious song here, counteracting their established song writing blueprints, New Despair though is a 15 minute way to reconnect with Copse's core sound.
Having already played ArcTanGent last year Copse are a band who show masses of talent and rather than searching for their EP's they are presented here for easy listening by Church Road Records. 8/10
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