Why it's worthwhile to listen to Bjork's and Noel Gallagher's new music
With "Utopia," Bjork picks up where 2015’s breakup album “Vulnicura” left off.
— -- Bjork’s “Utopia”
****
With "Utopia," Bjork picks up where 2015’s breakup album “Vulnicura” left off, singing about picking up the pieces, discovering love and obsession again and pondering the turbulent nature of love and romance. You’d expect this album to be more upbeat in its approach but it is, at points, frightfully uneasy in its tone. Listen to “Features Creatures” and you get still that pain that filled her last offering lingering.
This can be one of her least accessible records, playing almost like a very challenging classical suite with electronic edges. “Body Memory” goes on for nearly 10 minutes and though its sprawling nature will turn off some folks, at this point Bjork is more about making grand artistic statements than creating traditional pop songs. There’s an admirably delicate and intimate quality to this record. The hammering nature of “Losss” is perhaps meant to mirror one’s own angst at when one loses something or someone. (Maybe the extra s is there for emphasis.)
There are softer moments, like the elegant exploration of modern romance on “Blissing Me” and the soft rise of “Arisen My Senses.” Toward the end of the 71-minute set, both “Saint” and “Future Forever” both charm, with the former recalling the beauty of 2001’s “Vespertine.”
“Utopia” isn’t quite at the same classic level as the heartbreaking “Vulnicura,” but Bjork continues to be on a course of her own. This is a sometimes strange, sometimes rambling set, but it also is clearly majestic in its approach. Occasionally difficult magic still amazes.
Focus Tracks:
“Blissing Me” This is gentle and light. It is whispery yet giddy as she sings about finding new love. “Two music nerds obsessing.” Sending each other music and texting back and forth. This is a climbing, happy cousin of the heartbroken tracks from “Vulnicura.”
“Saint” After a chorus of birds and a flute reverie, this song bursts through with one of the more memorable melodies on the set.
“Arisen My Senses” On the third listen, this song will really pop for you. It almost plays like Bjork’s answer to a “smooth R&B” song.
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ “Who Built the Moon?”
***1/2
Noel Gallagher’s third High Flying Birds album isn’t quite as big a slam-dunk as 2015’s “Chasing Yesterday,” but still, it's a swirling, psychedelic romp. Admittedly, it is a little back-loaded. Earlier tracks like “Holy Mountain,” “It’s Beautiful World” and “She Taught Me to Fly” have momentum but spend a lot of time running in place.
At its core, this is a record that is remarkable from a sonic standpoint but the songs aren’t as strong as they were the last go-around. Toward second half, it really begins to blossom once you hear the slinky “Be Careful What You Wish For” and the immediately ear-catching “Black & White Sunshine.” The closing, live, sparse bonus track “Dead in the Water” really stands out in contrast.
This is a truly dense record. The opener “Fort Knox” and the funk-driven stomp of “Keep on Reaching” vaguely recall Gallagher’s work with the Chemical Brothers in their precision and their mammoth approach.
Even if this record lacks its predecessor’s focus and can feel a bit repetitve, it’s an enormous statement and best enjoyed on headphones or a pumped stereo system. After the magnificence of “Chasing Yesterday,” “Who Built the Moon?” is still confident but a marginal letdown.
Focus Tracks:
“The Man Who Built the Moon” This is grungy, sludgy and somewhat foreboding. It is also downright cinematic in its attack. That may have to do with the production on this album by electronic musician (and frequent film composer) David Holmes, who knows how to push Gallagher nearly over the top.
“Be Careful What You Wish For” This is the first song on the record that really feels like it is firing on all dynamic cylinders. Gallagher works that acoustic, bluesy riff well and it gets more drive as layers are added.
“Dead in the Water” (Live At RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin) The opening and closing chatter aside, this somewhat fresh and immediate take sounds more alive than some of the louder songs on the record. Gallagher is at his core a powerful songwriter who doesn’t often need much decoration when he hits his mark.
Later this week: New music from U2.
