Working with ambient-rock demigod
Brian Eno
can have an effect on a dearly innovative British studio team, as it has on
James
with two previous ear-boggling efforts, both with Father
Eno
at the helm.
Whiplash
,
James'
seventh album in several busy but broken years, still resounds with ambient
aesthetics, where even signature silences mark time in terms of sound. Old hand at synthetic pop and psonicadelia,
Stephen Hague
keeps the
wave alive with spacy zen minutes on the synth in
"Watering Hole,"
as well as strange house dance gyrations on
"Greenpeace,"
a happy, creaky piece. It's argued that
Tim Booth
sounds too much like
Al Stewart
but 1)
sounds great, so? and, 2) no he doesn't really, but the energy-factor point is well taken.
"Tomorrow"
would be a great song sung by, say,
Eddie Vedder
or
James Brown
, but great vocal energy is a curious element to blend here among these complex quicksilver musicsmiths. One of the better vocally-driven tunes is probably the sardonic, techno-silly
"Go to the Bank,"
which winds up being the weirdest cut on another adventurous outing for
. ~ Becky Byrkit