well, an album i picked up on day of release, look you see. and have enjoyed ever since, which is about a month north of that day of release, so no, the usual title (or variation) seems not to be appropriate. in this instance, then, the vibes, or tunes (or album) come in the form of Shades And Echoes, the "debut" album off of a "new" band called Forenzics.
except, of course, not quite. Forenzics happens to be (with a nod to the enz element in the name there) Tim Finn with Eddie Rayner, with both being off of (or out of) the simply brilliant Split Enz. fellow former member Neil Crombie pops up too, as does long term off-on collaborator and Roxy Music legend Phil Manzanera. plus a whole host of others.
it's an interesting, if not unique, album, this. as the in retrospect intelligent name of this "new" band gives every indication, for the most part what's going on here is strands, themes and ideas from some Split Enz songs recorded close to 50 (!!) years ago inform "new ones". the album title is how they refer to it, with each song on the record having a note giving the provenance (or origins) of the shades and echoes of other songs one may pick up on.
very good indeed, this is. brilliant, as point of fact. and that's allowing for virtually all of this being predominantly "new" to me in the first instance. as much as i love Split Enz, my collection and interest is from a period further down the line from the songs touched on here. so, all good. for an artist who has been so prolific as Tim Finn (and his mates) has, it is outrageous that still new, fresh and high quality tunes keep flowing.
and prolific he has been, despite not registering as a huge star outside of the New Zealand / Australia parts of the planet. oh, sure, like me, there are pockets of fans in countries, but for some reason fame and success has been more elusive than it should be. should i remember right, his only taste of chart appearances in the UK came with I Got You with Split Enz, and then when he by accident (it's a long story) joined Crowded House during the Woodface era. for how insane that is, imagine going to a country where the only success The Beatles had was (in a same stage comparison) the single Help! getting in the charts, and them them two where they sang over some old Lennon tapes.
but what's this album like? musically, and what have you? well, mostly i would say it's mellow. a chill album, i suppose. by no means is that to suggest it's breezy or in some way easy listening, for as ever Tim Finn is quite challenging and not shy in his lyrics. if we are honest at this stage of my life most albums are precisely this, but yeah, this is one of those records you put on of an evening and just listen to, really. not dance about (bar one or two) and certainly not just have on as audio wallpaper.
certainly (or most decidedly) no, it is not that each track here is a masterpiece. easily my least favourite, and one likely to be skipped, is Premiere Fois, which does that thing where they sing in a language what is not English. French, in this instance. i mean, yeah, great that you can do that, but as a song i simply don't understand it, although the English translation is sort of there. other than that one, mind, all the songs range from good to excellent.
not an entirely new concept, this record then. but one could suggest, after arguably 70 or so years of rock and roll (or popular music) as we know it, there's not much margun for much new anymore, anyway. revisiting former works is something a good many major artists have done, it's just that Tim Finn and his mates are being honest and direct about such.
a bit too early to be talking in terms of album of the year material? perhaps, but this one certainly sets out an interesting marker. it shall take some doing to top this one, but one never knows what releases are waiting in the wings. for now, well, a month down the road and it remains on the stereo, so i guess that's my review.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment