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██▌ Artist...: Blackfield ░▐██▌
░▐██ Album....: For the Music ░██▌░
▓▐██ Year.....: 2020 ▓▐██▓
▓▐██ Rel.Date.: 2021-02-13 ░▐██▓
▐██ Genre....: Progressive Rock ██▌░
░ ██▌ Label....: Warner Music Group Central Europe ██▌
▐██ Source...: CD ▐██
░▐██▌ Type.....: Album ▐██▌░
▓▄████ Quality..: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo ████▌░
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1. For the Music 3:34
2. After All 3:02
3. Garden of Sin 3:18
4. Under My Skin 3:18
5. Over & Over 3:16
6. Falling 4:14
7. White Nights 3:21
8. Summer's Gone 3:04
9. It's So Hard 3:06
------
30:13
Collaboratory musical group between Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen.
Blackfield is back with its sixth studio album, For the Music. Since
kicking things off with the bandÆs self-titled debut in 2004 (which was
my pick for album of the year), the band ù primarily the work of Israeli
vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Aviv Geffen ù has released some
terrific music over the years. Much of it is a dark, melancholic melange
of synth pop, keyboard atmospherics, acoustic guitar, and progressive
rock, with hints of metal occasionally appearing. Geffen handles much of
the vocal work throughout the catalog, with some contributions from
Porcupine Tree founder and current solo artist Steven Wilson.
And most of the time it works well. Early listens to For the Music donÆt
seem to work quite as well for me.
The album kicks off with the title track ù the first single from the
record ù which starts off a bit heavier handed than a typical Blackfield
song. It promises something a bit different, and the album is different,
but not necessarily in a good way in the end. The chorus is simple
(ôThanks for the music, thanks for the music tonightö) but itÆs catchy
and it feels like this could be a bit of a new direction (and a good
one) for Blackfield.
A more ônormalö Blackfield-esque song called ôAfter Allö follows. A soft
number with percussion via hand claps (and drums, eventually) leans on
keyboards and piano, along with GeffenÆs vocal, heavy with vibrato.
ThereÆs not much of a hook to this one. ItÆs not what youÆd call catchy,
and in all honesty, it doesnÆt go anywhere, although itÆs a pleasant
enough listen. ItÆs not one thatÆll have you humming it later.
ôGarden of Sinö is another soft track that features acoustic guitar and
more vibrato Geffen vocals with disturbing lyrics. ItÆs not unusual for
a Blackfield song to be lyrically dark, but this one seems more
ham-fisted than most. Wilson has approached similar subject matter and
handled it more deftly than this:
So pick your grandma's sleeping pills
And one by one swallow them
Open your dad's secret drawer
And take the gun, take it out
Ask your loved one to come over
And when she comes, shoot her down
We're all in god's waiting list
Here in the garden of sin
A lot of GeffenÆs writing for Blackfield seems to deal with
existentialism, fear, pain, and loneliness.
ôUnder My Skinö is the albumÆs second single and it features catchy
backing vocal ôoohsö and chimes after a chorus that ends each time with
the delightful line, ôAnd I carried you under my skin.ö ItÆs the first
hint of a catchy song on the album and itÆs one of the highlights of For
the Music. Keyboards are the main vehicle for the music and the lyrics
are typical for Geffen on the Blackfield releases.
A dream, the same old dream
Over and over
A fear, the same old fear
That paralyzed me
'Cause time it bleeds me out
And I don't belong here
A life, a cruel romance
That ends in tears
The chorus is more upbeat and seemingly hopeful, however, and the
juxtaposition works well.
Wilson makes his first lead vocal appearance on ôOver & Over,ö which is
a soft contrast to the preceding ôUnder My Skin,ö with a lovely,
delicate acoustic guitar providing a sparse beginning to the
arrangement, although a keyboard backdrop lifts the song after the
introductory verse. Lyrically itÆs pretty typical Geffen fare.
Being alive means to die over & over
Like animals weÆre trying to survive
ItÆs a good song overall, but it seems to tread some of the same ground
from Wilson-sung songs on recent releases.
Wilson reaches into his bag of falsetto that heÆs favored of late on the
ensuing ôFalling.ö The percussion has an awful electronic tinge and IÆd
rather they not be there at all, as the keyboards and WilsonÆs voice
could do the job better without it. The chorus on ôFallingö sounds a bit
more typical of the last two Blackfield records, with Wilson and Geffen
merging their voices over a wash of cresting keyboard waves. The chorus
sounds great and will resonate with longtime Blackfield fans. WilsonÆs
guitar solo is tasteful and is probably the best thing about the song.
The verses are probably the worst thing about it.
A third consecutive song with Wilson vocals, ôWhite Nightsö comes off a
bit Broadway-esque, which might be the intent but itÆs not what I turn
to Blackfield albums to hear. ItÆs not too much of a stretch to picture
John Travolta sitting in a swing at a drive-in at night, singing a
lament over losing Olivia Newton-John. It does, however, have a nice
guitar solo. So, at least thereÆs that.
ôSummerÆs Goneö begins a bit like a Hopes and Fears-era Keane song,
which is a great compliment as far as IÆm concerned. The recurring
four-note keyboard sequence after each line in the verses ùsung by
Geffen, who takes back over from Wilson after the previous three songs ù
screams Keane and itÆs catchy and memorable. ItÆs the most poppy and
memorable thing about the album. Still, even this song tails off rather
abruptly and seems to quickly run out of meaningful ideas. The songs are
short intentionally, but they come off as incomplete at times, and this
is one of those times.
The album closes with ôItÆs So Hard,ö which features GeffenÆs best vocal
from the album. A straightforward love song with piano and strings ù
whether real or not, IÆm not sureù itÆs a simple but beautiful song and
is my favorite from early listens.
ItÆs so hard being in love with you
YouÆre in everything I do
In every Kiss you cut me through
The formula for ôItÆs So Hardö is executed well and it might be the only
time that can be fully said of any of the nine tracks. ItÆs a pity it
took until the end to pull it off.
The internet has shown me several complaints from people about the
length of the album, which has a run time of about 30 minutes for its
nine songs. IÆm not sure the length of the songs (or the album) is the
real problem here. For me, itÆs about ideas that seem to be merely
sketches rather than fully realized songs. That has nothing to do with
length. There just feels like something is missing in almost all of them
and if the songs were better and more fully realized, no one would
grumble about the track lengths all being between three and four
minutes. The best albums never overstay their welcome.
Typically, I like the Blackfield songs Wilson sings best, but this isnÆt
the case with For the Music. The final two tracks, sung by Geffen, seem
to be the most complete thoughts on the album and he sings them with
more conviction ù possibly as a result.
DonÆt get me wrong, Wilson sounds great on ôOver & Over,ö which is a
good song.
Perhaps the album will grow on me more with repeated listens, but due to
its simplicity I suspect that wonÆt be the case. Instead, this will go
down as one of the weaker Blackfield releases, along with Welcome to My
DNA, which might indicate that the band should stick with numbering its
albums ù Blackfield, Blackfield II, Blackfield IV, and Blackfield V are
excellent ù instead of giving them names.
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