Singer
Matt Johnson
breathes new life into
The The
with 2024's
Ensoulment
, the British group's first studio album of original material since 2000. The album arrives in the wake of a difficult period for
Johnson
, which included a life-threatening throat infection and subsequent surgery in 2020. While he had already returned to live performing with
in 2018, the illness proved a kind of artistic and spiritual crucible for the singer, who hadn't written a proper rock song since abandoning the group following 2000's
NakedSelf
and focusing instead on soundtrack work.
finds
transformed by his near-death experience with a reignited sense of creative purpose. Adding to this sense of renewal is the presence of producer/engineer
Warne Livesey
, who helmed 1989's classic
Mind Bomb
and who co-produces here alongside
. Also on board are longtime
members guitarist
Barrie Cadogan
, bassist
James Eller
, keyboardist
DC Collard
, and drummer
Earl Harvin
. Together, they play with an artful intensity, crafting darkly textured grooves full of twangy guitar, bass, and piano to frame
's firelit baritone. It's a vibe that smartly evokes
, showcasing
's knack for biting, literate lyrics as he moves from the personal ("I Want to Wake Up with You") to the political ("Kissing the Ring of POTUS) to the philosophical ("I Hope You Remember [The Things I Cannot Forget])."
sets the album's ominous yet satirical tone from the start on "Cognitive Dissent," decrying the reality-warping nature of the internet, singing "Reality curated/Every place you thought you belonged/Everything you thought you knew is wrong." Yet, it's when he turns his attention upon more intimate vignettes, as he does with the romantic chance encounter on a train in "A Rainy Day in May," that he conjures a kind of sensual magic, one that brings to mind the tragic eroticism of films like Closer and Before Sunrise. He sings, "You caught my gaze, I swooned/Your eyes touched every part of my wound/The other half of my soul/Welcoming me home?." At turns incisive and deeply felt,
is more than a welcome return for
and
. ~ Matt Collar