Mat Osman From Suede Is Writing a Book

The unexpected new from 2019.
Mat Osman, the bassist, and one of the founders of Suede, is writing a novel called "The Ruins".
The book already has a publisher and will be released in 2020.
Mat Osman already wrote (the instrumental) of several Suede songs, including the fan favourite Europe Is Our Playground and, according to Brett Anderson in some book (can't remember if it was in Love & Poison or in his Autobiograhy), on the beginnings of Suede, he wrote the lyrics of one of the very earliest songs that never reached even a live performance.
Mat was also connected to writing as, during the long Suede split, he was the editor of the online magazine Le Cool.
Let's wait to read it, and we're wishing Mat the best luck for his new project.

Keith Flint Passed Away

Keith Flint, the charismatic singer, performance and dancer of The Prodigy died yesterday.

According to his band mates, Flint took his own life.

It is know that the artist had struggled a battle against depression.

He is being remembered by several artista as one of the nicest guys in the music industry. An animal o stage, however, when he was not performing he as a calm, relaxed and very pleasant man.  

The Prodigy opened the rave/rock music to millions, their, and specially, Flint's legacy is unparalleled. 

Thank you.

 

Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? - Review

2019 is bringing a lot of great albums for Indie fans.
Sharon Van Etten already released a fantastic album, Desperate Journalist just released their new LP and Deerhunter wrote also a great track.

Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? is the name of the album.
As a general review, it s an experimental indie pop record. With some enjoyable tunes and some others that are a bit (sometimes too much) ambiguous. It's not the new "best thing ever" but it shows why Deerhunter are, today, one of the best names in independent american music. It is a must listen record, even if it's not great for me, it has some songs that are career favourites. 

It starts with one of the strongest songs, Death In Midsummer, is not a typical song, it doesn't have a chorus and it goes around a beautiful keyboard riff. Strong,loud, great opening.  No One's Sleeping is also one of the best tunes, with a fantastic instrumental part, which in some parts sound almost like a party festival hymn. It must sound great live.
There are two songs that could have been written by Bowie and Brian Eno during the Low period. Greenpoint Gothic and Tarnung are really inspired by that classic album (maybe a little too much). Détournement is a (poor) experimental song, doesn't adds nothing to the album. 
My favourite moment for now is What Happens To People. A perfect example of a great, radio-friendly, a bit melancholic but at the same time catchy (great combination) song.
The rest of the songs are fine new indie summery songs, with great and danceable riffs, like Futurism.
The last song, Nocturne is another experimental song. It's not great but it is evasive, with a spacey vibe, which fits for the closing track.

Ennio Morricone's Final Show In Portugal

Ennio Morricone is a living legend.
He is, probably the most famous (and best) movie soundtrack's composer of all time and his legacy goes from the mid 60's until nowadays.
My favourite, and his most famous work is undoubtedly his contribution to the Spaghetti Western Sergio Leone's trilogy, who featured Clint Eastwood as the gunslinger "Man With No Name". Absolute classic that defined an era of cinema.

Morricone is 90th years old and he is going to conduct his last ever concerts.
On the 6th of May he will play at the Altice Arena in Lisbon. It will be his farewell. Tickets available from 16th of February.
Don't miss it, a last chance to see a living legend.

February Tunes

A new playlist is on the way:



01. Legião Urbana - Tempo Perdido - Recently just saw a Brazilian movie, which main track was this classic from one of the best ever bands from South America.
02. Molly Burch - First Flower - As I did a review earlier this month about this album, here is one of the tracks from First Flower
03. Deerhunter - What Happens To People? - Check this amazing song from Deerhunter's fresh new album. A Review is coming soon.
04. Suede - Don't Be Afraid If Nobody Loves You - My all-time favourite band are coming back to Portugal this summer to play in Paredes de Coura festival!
05. Yo La Tengo - You Can Have It All - The North-American band gave a brilliant concert earlier this week at Hard Club in Porto, which I was lucky enough to be part of the audience.
06. Ecos Da Cave - Desejo - A lost forgotten it from an old Portuguese band that recently got back together to celebrate 30 years since their debut.
07. Blankenberge - Right Now - A new brilliant post-rock song from a Russian "bandcamp" band. Give it a listen.
08. Beirut - Gallipoli - New single from the always enjoyable Beirut.
09. Curtis Harding - Where We Are - A great blues with some disco vibes modern track .
10. Doctor Rockit - Café de Flore - I am really dreaming about summer and caipirinhas these last days. Even if the sun is not out here, it is inside my mind, specially when I listen to songs like this. A great track to enjoy a drink in the sun. If you are not in the mood now, save it for the summer.

And The Greatest New Of The Year Is...

Molly Burch - First Flower

Molly Burch is one of the most beautiful voices today. And also, one of the best composers too. She's fantastic. I heard her on the radio, with fool, and she kept my attention. Recently I'm listening her new album on repeat mode. First Flower was released on October from last year and it is super amazing. Wonderful really.

Molly has a very distinctive voice and way of singing. Her style could be a mix of blues, pop, indie, comedy and drama.
She can sing beautiful love songs without being melancholic, actually, First Flower is really uplifting and funny!
Once you start listening to the record you will notice the way she says the word "Baby" on the first two songs. That way of saying "Baby" is sensual, funny, attractive.

Candy is a anti-love song with a fresh melody. Again, the way Burch spells the words is artistic, is strong. It shows personality, a strong feminine personality.
Wild it reminds me something taken from a modern Kate Bush. The guitar is mesmerising,without being repetitive.
First Flower is the first romantic (a bit melancholic, always in a good way) song. The lyrics are great "Just like the first flower that blooms in spring To me you are, you are my everything". It is the song that today, I wish that my girlfriend would play loud when she sees me. A beautiful declaration of love from a woman to a man. I would fall in love instantly if someone had shown me this song. Too bad I discovered by myself.
One of the most beautiful songs is Good Behavior. This one yes, it is the melancholic wonderful song on the album. Molly's voice is superb. She goes from an almost falsetto to whiskey tenor almost in the same line. The outro is angelical. The poetry in it, the everyday lesson is also simple and amazing with words lie "I think I want to be better,  Better than you and all the rest, don't think that's quite possible, oh Let's all just try and be our best". One of the high points.
The rest of the album is in the same style. Very well written, very well performed and, mainly, very well sung.
Actually, there is a line in To The Boys that kinda resumes what I think about this album "I don't need to yell to know that I'm the boss, That is my choice,And this is my voice"
The finishing song is, as it has to be, the sentimental orchestral piece.

First Flower is, undoubtedly, one of the best album that I have listened for a long time and a true charming record that, I must admit, I am completely in love. And, I also must admit that Molly is also an incredible beautiful person.

Just go and buy the album!
 

Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow Review

This year I'm trying hard to listen to new music and to focus on new album releases.
Earlier this month, Sharon Van Etten released a new album called Remind Me Tomorrow. The new single is featured on this week's Strange Sound Spotify Playlist.

The album is excelent. I was not very familiar with Etten's back catalogue, only the most streamed songs, but this album looks like an improvement. A more mature album and a step forward.

The album has a big variety of sounds, form melancholic ballads to electronic pop songs until indie rock hits.

Remind Me Tomorrow starts with a sad and slow ballad that serves as an introduction. Then, two kind of dark introspective songs, with "Memorial Day" sounding like a long moan with the words "YouWill Run" winding through the instrumental.

Then, you go directly to the 3 singles chosen by Sharon to present the album. "Comeback Kid" is a fast, a bit catchy and a hard song. "Jupiter 4" is a spacey, electronic and emotional trip.

"Seventeen" is one of those song that you love it or you hate it. I love it. It's the most happy song on the album, an obvious single and hit. Very catchy, very radio-friendly, kinda sound like a hymn, a perfect song to celebrate love and the process of ageing happily. It's a lesson about how to make a good modern indie pop song. Perfect.

After the 3 single we enter again a darker territory. "Malibu" is a beautiful ballad, reminding something like Beach House with a fantastic dramatic synthesizer solo. "You Shadow" is OK, doesn't really stand out from the other songs. "Hands" is a very obscure song, one of those songs to leave to the end of the album, it marks, even if the production here is a bit distorted during the chorus, that doesn't really helps.
The last song "Stay" comes like a fresh air (specially after Hands) and it is a very chilling moment.

As a overall, the album is great. I could define it as a very good current indie record, sang by a beautiful voice. It shows that actually, today Women are really on the vanguard of indie music.
In 10 songs, it has everything: hits, melancholic ballads, chill tunes, electronic sounds, hard dark melodies. As I said on the beginning, inside one gender of music, it is a very diversified album.

It's the best album I heard this year. Sorry James Blake and Deerhunter, but Sharon wins.

Some News In A Playlist

I usually try to make playlist with some sense. Music news, new releases, something that happened in my life, etc. And it is a great way to listen to new and old music, with a meaning and with variety.
So here's the new playlist with the reasons why I picked the songs.

01. Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen - The artist just released her new album and it is great. Review coming soon.
02. Mac DeMarco - Chamber Of Reflection - The Canadian artist is releasing a new this year.
03. Geneva - Tranquillizer - The Scottish 90's band, who toured with Suede, are reforming this year for some shows and maybe will write new music together again.
04. Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon - Everyone was excited about the red moon earlier this week. so this song kind fits for it.
05. DeVotchKa - Second Chance - Just randomly listened to this week this week and I think it is amazing.
06. Interpol - The Scale - The North - Amercian band is coming to this year Primavera Sound, both in Porto and Barcelona
07. James Blake - Are You In Love? - The producer / musician / composer release is critically acclaimed new album "Assume Form".
08. Ornatos Violeta - Coisas - The Legendary Portuguese band recently confirmed that they are getting together for the first time since 2012 for 3 festival dates. I already have the tickets!
09. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody - First time in years that I went to the cinema to see the biopic about Freddie Mercury. It is a great movie and a great performance.
10. Jack Johnson - Sunsets For Somebody Else - The weather is improving and expect some sunny days.

Porto Primavera Sound 2019

Primavera Sound is the festival which I most look up to.

First, it is (or was) my style of music. It is a modern city festival (without camping). The vibe is beautiful, people are beautiful, there is a sense of freedom and peace in the air. Wonderful. And it is in my beloved city, Porto.

During the last years, we had great great performances. Last year although, I was a bit disappointed. Nick Cave and The War On Drugs were great, the rest was OK. The lineup was poor.

Last week, the artists were revealed and disappointment again.

There aren't any big big number besides Interpol. Most of them are unknown to me and they even have some kind of reaggaeton day. What the fuck! Seriously...

The festival got so big that the promoters don't really care about the music. It will sold out anyway, their pockets will be full. 

This year we will be able to see not only Interpol but also Courtney Barnett, Jarvis Cocker and James Blake. The rest is bad or unknown. So many great indie bands around that could be hired and this is all we get...

The Barcelona festival, not only has all of the good names that are coming to Porto but also they got Suede, Mac DeMarco, Primal Scream, Kurt Ville and Christine & The Queens.

So, basically, this year, Porto is a cheap version of the Barcelona festival.

I know Portugal is a small country, and Porto is a small city but, c'mon, there was something special about Primavera here. Now, people will attend to the festival because Porto is a nice place, with a nice beach and with a better prize. They will come here because of the location and not because of the music itself. It's a pity. 

I didn't buy my ticket yet, and not sure if I will.        

James Blake - Assume Form Review

James Blake not only release his new album this week but also confirmed his presence in the 2019 Porto Primavera Sound festival. So, probably I will see him live next summer.

I'm not very familiar with Blake's past work. So, this is going to be a very frontal review, without looking back to his back catalogue.

First, Blake is, definitely not my type of indie music.
He is somewhere in the middle of indie, r n' b, chill, pop, a mix of all of it.

The album starts with the title track, Assume Form, and it is like a sweet dream pop song. Nice way to begin the album.
Then, on the next song, which is the main single, "Mile High" Blake, with the help of Travis Scott goes a deeper too much to the world of hip-hop and r n' b. Basic song, with some nice background sound but, honestly, nothing special, a bit lame actually. Don't forget please that I'm a man who doesn't appreciate too much rap music. The next song, "Tell Them" flows in the same line as the previous one, but in a more aggressive and complex way. Should be the single, in my opinion.
Into The Red,shows Blake in a more introspective way, and his one of the best songs on the album.
Barefoot In The Park features Rosalía, who will also perform at Primavera Sounds, and it's a more exotic ambient song, it's beautiful, Rosalía gives a fresh feeling to the song and to the album.
Can't Believe The Way We Flow and Are You In Love? are my favourites so far. CBTWWF is very summerish and AYIL is a sad and beautiful love confession.
"Where's The Catch?" has some strange jazz "contratempo" beats, but is too much r n´b for me, "I'll Come Too" is a sweet love song. "Power On" and "Don't Miss It" don't bring nothing particularly new to the album. The last song "Lullaby For My Insomniac" is a ambient chill calm song, good to end the album.

As an overall, the album is good. I don't think it is a masterpiece as it is being credited by most of the reviewers but it's a great album. Good music to put on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Again, I'm not a big big fan of this kind of music, specially the more "urban" songs but, if I liked it, someone who connects with this type of music most love it, so, maybe all the good fuzz around the album is true and, an album that for me it's only OK is a great piece of art to million of people out there.

Red Rum Club - Matador Review

One of the last playlists I did featured a new song called "Honey" by the band Red Rum Club.

I enjoyed the track, it had a rock / party feeling, something like Cat Empire. They are a new band from Liverpool, United Kingdom. 

I was quite curious about their debut album, Honey is really a great track.

I heard it last night and I was very disappointed. It's funny to write this now, following my last post where I said that I almost never write negative reviews. Well, here's one.

The album is poor. The songs are similar, and they don't follow the energy of Honey. It looks like they have a permanent trumpet player so, they have in every song the trumpets riff. Which is a shame, is something unnecessary, they should really cut off most of those riffs.

They are a British band trying to sound American Western, but, in most of the songs they end up as a mix of Ricky Martin with some bad american "pop/rock" band like Nickelback or Hoobastank. 

Also weird, the singers voice is a little bit similar to James Dean Bradfield from the Manics, so try to imagine Bradfield singing "sugar rock latino" songs.

Angeline, the album first song is pretty cool, in the same line as Honey.

Then things get worse. "Would You Rather Be Lonely" makes me remember the hit "Hey Baby (If You'll Be My Girl". "Hung Up" sounds like a floppy "trying to be" western song and "TV Said So" sounds like a floppy "trying to be" Hawaiian song.
When it reaches song number 3, you start really to think why there is always a trumpet doing the singers or guitars melody. You get that feeling, something like "oh no, not again..."

Honey is great, happy, energetic, wish there were more songs like that.
The rest is a mix of romantic latino songs. Calexico, Casanova and Remedy are, again, something Ricky Martin could have sang. The album ends with a graceless ballad. 

So, I'm sorry, but Red Rum Club is something that I will let pass.

The Terrible 1975

I know I'm not the most impartial reviewer. Most of the music that I buy or review, I, usually write very good things about it. That's one of the reasons why I don't give a punctuation to them, it would have too many 10/10 or 5/5.

So, to prove that I don't like everything today, I'm writing about a band that I can't stand. The 1975.

I never listened much to the 1975. I thought it was something that I had to do. It was appearing in many of my "recommended to you" Spotify playlists and I saw that the band won a lot of awards and nominations for alternative, pop / rock and indie music. 

Then, lately, I gave it a try and I was surprise how terrible the band actually are. Well, they were always on the front page of NME, they won the Brit Awards in 2017, they won best album for Q a couple of years ago.

How? How did they win that, and how is the press so surrendered to them?

Their music is awful, it's like pop music for kids, stuff like Justin Bieber or One Direction. 

More surprisingly, how can good press place them somewhere in Indie British music? There are so good artists lately, why are the focus all over them? How can they performed in Glastonbury more than one time?

 

Well, I know everyone has their own taste and everyone is free to like (or dislike) music but, in my opinion, The 1975 are just a successful band made by producers, managers and influences. They should never be tagged as indie or pop rock act. 

2019 Is Here And We're Back!

2019 is here, what a time to be alive, that a time to listen to good music!
Strange Sound, the blog and the playlist are back again. The blog is turning 13 years now, time flies!
Well, nothing better than to start the new year and the resurrection with a brand new playlist with songs that marked my 2018 mixed with some other that are super fresh in my ears-.
So have a listen to the next 10 songs that feature Ennio Morricone, Lea Porcelain, Girl in Red, Suede, Whitey, David Holmes, Molly Burch, Supergrass, Franz Ferdinand and Frank Sinatra!
More posts coming soon!
Don't forget to check also the Indie Pendence playlist (it gets together all of the songs that passed by Strange Sound playlist over the years) here: https://open.spotify.com/user/miguelmatosmonteiro/playlist/1Yx830GzBcfMCVDa60HNx4?si=YpFjUSE5S_69NYsc-rtl4w

The Importance Of The White Album

The Beatles, or the White Album, is turning 50th. There's is going to be a 6 CD deluxe pack with remastered versions, a lot of demos, sessions, never before released songs, etc. A treasure for Beatles fans.

I see The White Album a little bit different from what i actually read in the news.
By this time, the band had reached the climax of their psychedelic transformation with the release of Sgt. Peppers just after the lunatic Magical Mystery Tour. Their transformation really begun with the release of Rubber Soul. They become a more complex band, and left a side their "shaking" tunes. However, their success never fell, and they continued to be the world's most famous band.

As I said, this album just after their climax, and after a climax the only way is down. Which can be a very good thing actually. Did we really wanted The Beatles to become stranger and stranger? I don't think it would sound that good so, in my opinion, they did well when they tried to conciliate their new sound with their rock n' roll roots.

The result was a very long, funny, enjoyable album.
Back In The USSR brings some California vibes, Ob-La-Di is a masterful pop song with one of the best bass lines ever and there some comic great and a little forgotten songs like "Bungalow Bill", "Piggies", "Rocky Raccoon" or "Cry Baby Cry".

Then, there is space for typical McCartney ballads. "Martha My Dear", "I Will", "Honey Pie" and, probably, one of the most important Beatles songs "Blackbird" stand among those genious little "granny" songs from Paul. However, the songwriter also let his wild persona take over when he wrote authentic adrenaline songs like the superb "Helter Skelter" or "Why Don't We Do It In The Road". Mainly, the influence of "Helter Skelter" on most of the modern music is undeniable. You can hear its influence on Metal, Hard-Rock, Pop, Rock, Punk, almost every listenable style of music today. The song is incredible, a starting point for anyone who has ever picked a guitar.


Also, I think that during this time, Lennon started to become the revolutionary artist that would define his solo career. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", "Revolution I" and "I'm So Tired" are songs on the same lines of his Imagine album. The, both of the albums end with cheesy ballads from John and, more amazingly, one of them "Good Night" is sung by Ringo, and it gives it a very paternal feeling.

After writing marvellous things about the songwriting of John and Paul, I choose my favourite song from the album the mythical "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from George (and Eric, of course). This is a very inner song. I think that you can listen the sadness of Harrison during this time on the song. It's a dark melody, with ramping guitar riff, from a man who wanted his songs to be taken more seriously. Fucking brilliant, a moment of history. Actually, I think that it is because of this that George is my favourite Beatle. He was standing there, waiting for his time to come, on the shadow of John and Paul and, in the end, he wrote a lot of my favourite Beatles songs and my favourite solo album by any of them.

Well, 50 years after, The White Album is still a modern very well balanced rock album, made by the most important band of the world. An essential listen to any music fan.

20 Years Of "This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours"

Manic Street Preachers are going to do a full celebration pack for the 20th anniversary of their fifth album, "This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours".
The album, that was released in 1998, will be re-released, with a lot of demos and mixes, and the Manics will play 13 concerts around the UK during next year's Spring.
The reissue will have 3 CDs, the first is the full album, the second alternative versions of the album, and the third disc will include remixes and b-sides.
Maybe the funniest and strangest thing of this release is that the band decided to leave out "Nobody Loved You" from the main album and replace it with "Prologue To History".
Speaking to the NME, lyricist Nicky Wire told:

“James [Dean Bradfield, frontman] has remastered it, I found all the demos. They’re amazing – all on cassettes, recorded in someone’s front room. We’ve put [fan favourite B-side] ‘Prologue To History’ on the album now and kicked off ‘Nobody Loved You’. We’ve moved that onto disc two with a great demo that we’ve found. It’s packed full of really interesting and intimate stuff, as well as us in the studio and off the leash on certain songs like ‘Tsunami’ that are much more raw.
“There are some amazing remixes too – by people like Mogwai, Massive Attack and Cornelius. It was a great period where people would take your work and transform it into something really special.”

"This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours" is the band's most successful album and the only one to have reached the number 1 in the official UK charts. It includes as well, probably, the Manics most famous song "If Your Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next" (it was a period for long titles, wasn't it?). This was a golden era for British music and this work represents it very well. Legendary songs like "Tsunami", "The Everlasting" or, a personal favourite, "You Stole The Sun From My Heart" were recorded for this album.


You can expect also a remastered vinyl edition.
The tracklist is:

CD 1 – Remastered original album

1 The Everlasting
2 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
3 You Stole the Sun from My Heart
4 Ready for Drowning
5 Tsunami
6 My Little Empire
7 I’m Not Working
8 You’re Tender and You’re Tired
9 Born a Girl
10 Be Natural
11 Black Dog On My Shoulder
12 Prologue To History
13 S.Y.M.M.

CD 2 – Demos & Live Rehearsals

1 The Everlasting
2 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (Dave Bascombe Mix)
3 You Stole the Sun from My Heart
4 Ready for Drowning
5 Tsunami
6 My Little Empire
7 I’m Not Working
8 You’re Tender and You’re Tired
9 Born A Girl
10 Be Natural
11 Black Dog On My Shoulder
12 Prologue To History
13 S.Y.M.M.
14 Nobody Loved You

CD3 – Remixes & B Sides

1 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (Massive Attack Remix)
2 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (David Holmes Remix)
3 The Everlasting (Deadly Avenger’s Psalm 315)
4 The Everlasting (Stealth Sonic Orchestra Remix)
5 You Stole the Sun from My Heart (David Holmes Remix)
6 You Stole the Sun from My Heart (Mogwai Remix)
7 Tsunami (Cornelius Remix)
8 Tsunami (Stereolab Remix)
9 Montana/ Autumn/78
10 Black Holes For The Young
11 Valley Boy
12 Socialist Serenade
13 Buildings For Dead People


 

Brett Anderson Is Writing a New Book

After the success of his autobiography, Brett Anderson, the lead singer of Suede is writing the second volume of the story of his life.
"Coal Black Mornings" covered the time since he was born until Suede signed their first professional contract in 1992.
We can assume now that the next book, "Afternoons With The Blinds Drawn" will cover Anderson's mid-90's life, probably until somewhere Suede's break up or maybe even further. It will be interesting to see Brett write about the departure of Bernard Butler from Suede, his relationship with his then girlfriend, Sam, the come back of Justine Frischmann, his vision of the new Suede with Richard Oakes and Neil Codling.
Well, personally, my favourite period of Suede (not counting with the current era) was the Coming Up times, where the band was just like a gang, full of confidence.

Brett's first book was very well received by the fans and the critics and, hopefully, his new work will have the same effect.

We can expect it in the Autumn of 2019. That's a long time, but as we know, Brett has been very busy, recording and touring Suede's spectacular new album "The Blue Hour" 

Always Ascending By Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand are, in my opinion, one of the most interesting bands in the world today.
They released 3 super acclaimed albums, then, I think they lost a bit of media attention with "Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action" and then did the supergroup FFS with The Sparks, which kinda divided the fans and the critics (and Alex Kapranos also formed BNQT).
With Always Ascending we can see the band, again (and again and again) trying to develop their sound and trying to make something fresh and new, and that's something we should really praise. It would be easy for them to do a new "Take Me Out" with a frontal indie-rock sound, but the band
really wants to get further and achieve new sonorities.
Always Ascending is, basically a mature indie/rock/electronic record.
If I were in a band, I would select the best song of the album (excluding long melancholic emotional or experimental songs) as the first single. I do think that big part of the artists do it, and Franz Ferdinand selected the title-song of the album as their opening and as first single and I understand why. It is the best song of the album. An electronic, dreamy song about viewing life as a Shepard Tone, always directly facing our path, and moving forward, and it is what the band is always doing, renovating their sound with amazing songs, without forgetting their own style. Always Ascending is a very complex song with lot of different parts but complex as the album is, so it's its right representation.
The second song, Lazy Boy is a danceable song, with a catchy bass riff, and a direct guitar chorus. Again, Kapranos likes to write about simple things in life, without getting too much poetic about the subjects. The songs is not about how love will change your life, or how war screws up the world, it's only about a lazy boy that doesn't like to get out of the bed, and loves his girlfriend. Simple, direct and smart. Franz Ferdinand's lyrics has always been much more practical than most of the bands. Something like a modern Jarvis Cocker poem, it describes the world has it is, without a story-line.
Then we have Paper Cages, a song that, at the beginning I didn't like that much, but now I think it is one of the best from the album. Catchy and melodic. It's something that Metronomy could have written during their most inspiring moments (far superior, but you get the point).
Finally is what I describe like a normal song of the album. Not the best, not the worst, just a nice song that fills good in the album. A song, probably about social integration.
The Academy Award is my least favourite song. It looks like an American ballad, like a modern western/Scottish song.
Track number 6 is Lois Lane. The song, with the name of the partner of Superman, sonorously, really reminds me of the 80's. I think it has a lot of inspiring from the instrumental song of Depeche Mode "Nothing To Fear" from their 1982 album "A Broken Frame". The riff of the chorus, and the middle keyboard solo really seems taken from there. Nothing against, I love Depeche Mode, and actually in a lot of moments from this album you can feel their influence.
Huck And Jim is a strange song. The intro of the song is great but then you get into dark areas. The pre-chorus is like a rap/reggae sound that, really doesn't fit well with Franz Ferdinand. I said that The Academy Awards was the lowest moment of the album, but I'm reconsidering now that this song might be worse. It's not bad, it's only not as good as the other songs.
Gimpse Of Love is another 80's renovated song. Catchy, funny, with a nice keyboard line, nice backing choruses. I very decent song.
The second single from the album was Feel The Love Go. Again, with Always Ascending it is the most electronic/industrial song. Hard, aggressive and addicted. The song is very intense and has (as Always Ascending) nice "lalala" creepy backing vocals, that really helps you to memorise the song. A hit song, without any doubt.   
The last song is, as typical, a beautiful ballad. Slow, Don't Kill Me Slow is a electronic ballad, very sweet and very (emotionally) moving. You could say it's a sad song that you can happily dance to it. Also, the outro is very dreamy and very travelling. After 9 aggressive electronic indie rock songs, this is the perfect song for you to make peace with the album. One of my favourite songs. Last week I was listen to it every single morning on the way to work.

Resuming, I cannot place Always Ascending in a rank in Franz Ferdinad's career. The album is, undoubtedly, a step forward from their work, but it goes along their career, it's nothing revolutionary. The band's line up changed from their last work to this one, but, honestly, you cannot feel that on their sound, which says that the new members adaptation was very easy and natural, and the band could keep their identity exactly as it was.
I love this band, and I think that, not only they are one of the best performs of today's music but also they are one of the most creative bands around. They should be really on the top, which they are not, and it's a pity. If you have the opportunity you should see them live. 

Skeleton Tree Review

Firstly, an album is much more than a set of songs. An album is a creative process, that take months of writing and of improvement. It's a trip to a time and an era of the writer's life. When people are commenting albums they should be aware of the environment in which it was created. What was the purpose that lead the artist to choose a darker sound, or a commercial one, or an instrumental album.

When you are one of the best lyricists of the last decades, this sentence takes a whole new level. Every Nick Cave album is an experience, a story, a group of songs that make much more sense together.
Although the death of Arthur (Cave's son) happened after most of the lyrics of Skeleton Tree were completed, you simply can't separate this event to this album.
The songs are much darker, sadder and more melancholic than Cave's previous work.
Most of the songs are stripped down performances of poems (not stories) accompanied by surrounding ambient sounds. Simple, beautiful, and sad.
I do believe that the death of Arthur, made a huge impact on the sound of the album, on the structure of it. Eight ballads, as dark as they could be. The artwork follows the same lines. Everything black.

Some of the lyrics are a lot prophetic, knowing that they were written prior to Cave's son death. The opening lines of the album are "You feel from the sky, crash landed in a field". Could be Jesus, or could be Arthur.
In "Jesus Alone" you have one of the most descriptive songs of the album, talking about a figure of Jesus, that could be a million of different people, and, in a distance, Nick tries to call that person, with his voice. The drums are irregular, and the main sound in loop made in some synthesizer. "Rings Of Saturn" is a rare moment of joy and happiness, an appreciation of a feminine figure, a beautiful moment. "Girl In Amber" is, probably my favourite song so far. Probably the most dramatic part of the album, with an almost religious and holy sound mixed up with a desperate way of singing. "Magneto" is a key track. It's the one that gave the title to the documentary that was made for the album. Quoting Cave:
"In love, in love, in love you laugh
In love you move, I move
And one more time with feeling
For love, you love, I laugh, you love
Saw you in half
And the stars are splashed across the ceiling"
One of the best moments of the album.
"Anthrocene" is a more a narrative song, with angels voices in the background. Just some kind of a cello sound, piano, backing voices and poetry. Do you really need much more than that?
"I Need You" looks like the goodbye song of Cave to his son. A mix of a declaration of loss and some old memories. Cave's voice sounds fragile, almost breaking. "I'll miss you when you're gone away forever". As it is "Distant Sky". This time, Nick sounds more resigned to what happened and is carrying is life, although he will miss forever his "darling companion". The chorus is sung by Else Torp, giving it more an angelical and biblical melody.
The album ends with the title track "Skeleton Tree" that is the most bright song. A funny way of ending such a depressive album, is with a song that gives you hope and will to continue living and being strong to face our problems and depressions. A moment full of fresh air after a hard time.

In resume, Skeleton Tree is a very very hard album. That's because it expresses so well the feelings of the musicians that you almost to start feel like them. And this is the true value of music. Feeling the authors through their work. Cave really did that, exhaustively, and all of his pain and suffer are present on every song. It's like reading a 500-page book, but in a form of 8 songs.

Cave passed through a very hard time and, as a true master of the art of writing he expressed it amazingly.

It's sad, but sad is beautiful and so is the album, truly honest and beautiful.

With no surprise it got universal acclaim. It will be remembered as of the most honest albums ever recorded.

Dolores O'Riordan From The Cranberries Has Died

The legendary Irish singer, Dolores O'Riordan, most famous for being the lead singer of The Cranberries has, suddenly, passed away today.
The singer, was in London in a recording session and there is not public cause for her dead.
Aged 46, she had a remarkable voice and she and her band, along with some bands from the early 90's, a new perspective of women leading rock bands.
The Cranberries were still active, after their first hiatus and had release new material in 2017. Dolores had also a solo career with two albums and some other side projects.
She will be missed.