Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Ghosteen (Bad Seed Ltd) [Alex Swift]
Grief or deep aching sadness is often understood in stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Perhaps these are the elements that make sad music seem the most uplifting Five years have passed since Arthur Cave was found dead at the bottom of that seaside cliff, aged 15. Despite his father insisting that most of Skeleton Tree was written prior, the tragedy inevitably cast a shadow over that albums themes of mortality and spirituality. Push The Sky Away, also contemplated those ideas. Beautiful in symbolism, yet haunting in honesty, Ghosteen sees our frontman contemplating the facets of sadness, while utilizing instrumentals in a delicate, elusive manner. I partly fear to review and analyse the piece, yet I hope to do well by the artist and the album. As Cave answers in one of his Red Hand Files, ‘writing fills me with a devotion to the mystery of the world with its deep oceans and dark forests. This notion of doubt contains an enormous amount of creative power and is always accompanied by a state of yearning for something beyond certitude, beyond comprehension’
Ghosteen opens on a parable about the ‘King of Rock n’ roll’. Held within that is the concept that we all leave behind a legacy, a presence that will not dissipate: ‘spin the feather and sing the wind’. The melancholic use of strings allows for the vocals and words to resonate as if they themselves are instruments, intent on charting the emotion and sensitivity. Bright Horses utilizes the same technique, when Cave's voice takes on a wept quality, which emphasizes the depth of his grief while setting up the dichotomy between imagined fantasies of the world, and cold harsh realities. ‘The bright horses have broken free from the fields, they are horses of love, their manes full of fire’ wonderfully contrasts with ‘the fields are just fields, there ain't no Lord, everyone is hidden, everyone is cruel there's no shortage of tyrants and no shortage of fools’. In the final moments, our frontman resolves to believe: ‘My baby's coming back now on the next train, can hear the whistle blowin', I can hear the mighty roar’. For those of us for whom a strong imagination comes naturally, these lyrics offer a kind of solace, making our fantasies seem justified, if not any more lifelike. Even on the mournful, yet beautiful piano ballad, Waiting for You, our narrator finds comfort in the strangest of places: ‘A Jesus freak on the streets says, he is returning, well sometimes a little bit of faith can go a long, long way’.
Night Raid is the song I’ve struggled with most, though I see the beauty in utilizing minimalism to describe the hollow hell of hotel rooms while recalling subtle memories of loved ones in a search for inspiration. Galleon Ship, accompanied by vivid instrumentation, speaks of a desire to escape the confines of a world obsessed with money, and fly to the sun. Still, the reality is once more brought into the picture, with our protagonists discovering that once they reach the sun, they can only circle aimlessly around, ‘The winds of longing in their sails, searching for the other side’. Ghosteen Speaks feels brought to life by the addition of choirs, whose ethereal wails rise and fall, appearing closer and further away. ‘I think they’re singing to be free’ Cave observes, lending to the idea of letting the ghosts of the past linger, without haunting or disturbing your dreams. Drawing this section of the album to a close is Leviathan, which feels like a pop song suffering an existential crisis. The tribal, Celtic undertones, and the repeated motif of ‘I love my baby and my baby loves me’ give the irony a subtle though affecting sting,
We soon move into Ghosteen, which begins on a positive note with blissful layers of colour and harmony, and a ‘chorus’ which feels like a waltz performed in a Fairytale setting. The setup tricks the listener into thinking they know the direction before a tale gets spun of a ‘moonlit man, moving down the road, things start to fall apart, starting with his heart’. From there we are cradled within the song, the gentle subtly, allowing us to move from moments of comfort to stints of sheer moroseness. Recalling The Fairytale idea, we are told a saddening retelling: ‘Mama Bear holds the remote, papa bear, he just floats, and baby bear, he has gone to the moon in a boat’. Finally, as the players fizzle out, leaving the project's centrepiece, standing alone, he concludes ‘There's nothing wrong with loving something, you can't hold in your hand’. Lyrics so open to interpretation pose a risk, yet here they are executed with a sympathetic nature that keeps you entangled in their emotional grip. The same could be said of Hollywood, which amounts to an aching contemplation on mortality. I’ve heard some say that ending the album on such a morose note, proves uncomfortable, yet there’s really no other way the entire experience could have finished. This puts the entire work in cruel, acute context. In the closing story, a woman named Kisa, in a desperate search to save her dying child resolves to collect a mustard seed from each house where no one died - she's not able to collect a single one. ‘Everyone’s always losing someone, it’s a long way to find peace of mind’
Ghosteen proves a fine tribute to Arthur, and a wonderful story of love, grief, and recovery. To end with another Red Hand Files quote: ‘Grief is the terrible reminder of the depths of our love and, like love, grief is non-negotiable. There is a vastness to grief that overwhelms our minuscule selves. We are tiny, trembling clusters of atoms subsumed within grief’s awesome presence’ 10/10
Saint Asonia: Flawed Design (Spinefarm Records)
Canadian rock band Saint Asonia were named Loudwire's Best New Artist of 2015, now if you're into your post millennial American (or in this case Canadian) radio rock then you will probably know that they are soemthing of a mini supergroup featuring former Three Days Grace frontman Adam Gontier and Staind guitarist Mike Mushok. Flawed Design is their first album since 2015 and their second in total and it doesn't wildly differ from their debut though it does new members in the form of Cale Gontier on bass replacing Corey Lowery and on drums Sal Giancarelli taking over from Rich Beddoe, they have also brought some friends along with Sharon Den Adel duetting on the emotive Sirens while Godsmack's Sully Erna lends his unique pipes to the chunky The Hunted. Gontier's voice is great, carrying these anthemic songs with ease, it's not groundbreaking stuff but Flawed Design is a first-rate radio-rock album, balancing the bouncy rockers with the big ballads bringing together the styles these men are known for but keeping it very up to date with the gurgling synths as an undercurrent. Not many flaws here just an album that will be picked up by every US/Canadian rock radio station for sure. 7/10
Jan Akkermann: Close Beauty (Music Theories Recordings)
Jan Akkermann is 72 years old, bear that in mind when you listen to his latest solo album. The guitar playing here (it is an instrumental album) is mind boggling. Close Beauty is a jazz fusion record with the intensely technical playing backed by some smooth organs and funky rhythms. If you're not a fan of exploratory instrumental guitar albums then it may be worth skipping over this collection from the founding guitarist of Focus. It's called the 'Akkermann Sound' as it mixes electric, acoustic and classical guitar styles for an album that will thrill and delight guitarists and those that have been following Akkermann's career for all these years. It's decidedly different to so many of the virtuoso guitar players out there something which Jan revels in, it means that this album has got a myriad styles with African touches on Meanwhile In San Tropez, the funky organ-drenched French Pride and the impressive Spiritual Privacy opening with some brilliant acoustic playing. If you're not impressed by the playing then this is good enough chill out instrumental album best enjoyed with a glass of wine. 7/10
Evil Invaders: Surge Of Insanity: Live In Antwerp 2018 (Napalm Records) [Manus Hopkins]
It seems Evil Invaders are a little early in their career to have a live album out. Though the band has been active since 2007, they only have two full-length albums out so far, and maybe a third or even fourth before a live album would be a better idea. That being said, this is a pretty good live record, despite sounding very polished and touched-up. The songs incredibly energetic, making it so some accompanying video would serve the performance recording as well. At 16 songs, it’s a pretty long show, but the momentum doesn’t die down, and it’s straight thrash from beginning to end. One song that surprisingly stand out is a faithful cover of Venom’s Witching Hour. That’s not to say Evil Invaders don’t have songs of their own to stack up, however. 7/10
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