My Review
Unbelievable Truth - Almost Here
On the road of memory one can find atoms of beauty with petals almost ready to surrender, to the structural failure that would mean their death.
For example, an album that has been lying in the dark for too long: trembling, disappointed, perplexed, shocked, dejected.
Born and bred in rich and fruitful Oxford, it is a breath that contains the millennial sweetness that has been able to turn into songs with hands full of candour and gracefulness, with a longilinear manner structured to be a pillow that as a faithful companion supports rest and dreams.
But I have never forgotten how much exquisiteness abounds inside, its ancient flavour that comforts and seduces: only frenzy led me for a while to leave it unjustly among the dust.
Almost Here is the feasible exercise of a skilful collection of love progressions, open pages of flair and emotion that walk on the claws of our inattention. No longer in time to be called Brit Pop, it sounds more like an Alternative scenario that welcomes Folk Rock in order to connect with romance prone to put on some muscle and decadent pop.
You cry, you are moved, you seek true affection while listening to these eleven delightful compositions, short of breath and long of joy because yes, in the end you are enveloped by the feeling that joy lives on forever.
Andy Yorke, brother of Radiohead's more famous one, has had to fight against the comparisons that human stupidity has not failed to show, ending up by crushing the path of this equally talented one.
The album is a grey necklace of pop songs with a look inside sadness, atmospheres that veer towards melancholy as the fruit of a familiar DNA, the need to closely scrutinise the motions of suffering of an increasingly depressing everyday life.
Not slaps but songs that know how to surprise for different attitudes, for a final sampling that can lead to declare that there are few records of the 90s that have such an intense mood. Where there is a lack of songs that can bewitch (which is not necessarily a defect or a lack) we find a general involving and dragging climax, given by having perfectly gathered the sick waters of a world with little poetry...
Now let's get in the water and see things through these eleven waves: may any of you learn the beauty of the sea...
Song by Song
A guitar that tingles the skin opens the album: it's titled SOLVED and it's a welcoming melodic cradle, an almost mystical, delicate and gentle nebula that captures us for its distinct propensity to make us dream.
With ANGEL we hear what the Yorke family does best: being inclined to hold our breath with the gentleness of dreamy images, minimalist rhythms, the bass and drums knocking on the door of the heart to wrap us in a romantic grip.
STONE recalls the importance of Glen Hansard with his The Frames: with little you can give a lot. The acoustic guitar, in full folk style, brings the atmosphere alive and a very sweet counter-song softens the tension of the lyrics. In the finale, the electric guitars push towards a more robust zone, only to dissolve and give way to the acoustic one.
By the time SAME MISTAKES arrives, you realise that certain songs could only be born in the 90s. Drops of The Levellers from the first album A Weapon Called The Word, the kindness of Heather Nova, the beam of light mixed with the shadows of the first The Cranberries and then a lot of sweetness for a really remarkable emotional rollercoaster.
Just enough time to catch our breath and FORGET ABOUT ME reminds us of The Eagles at first: the introduction sounds like a declaration of love for the band from Los Angeles. Then we enter Andy's beloved space: the introspection that comes from the lyrics to this song that sounds like a dry leaf in search of oxygen, while its flight becomes more and more sad.
The rhythm and a more serene melody return: it's SETTLE DOWN that softens us, opening the shutters with its pop, a minimal but effective arpeggio, the poetry of the bass and the propensity to be a caress that from the initial blue ends up sounding yellow. Finally, the sun comes out of the Oxford sky.
Neil Hannon's The Divine Comedy seem to draw the melody of this song, asking for an opinion to the Danish Saybia for the delicate FINEST LITTLE SPACE: a poignant flight that makes us cry with the play of guitars and keyboards until we tremble. Very remarkable.
Perhaps the best moment, certainly interesting, comes with BUILDING, a song that Thom Yorke could have written if he hadn't chosen to play with Radiohead. Arcane, light, between the sweetness and the scream that shakes the night, the song shows the ability that Adam Duritz with his Counting Crows has always had: that of letting people taste the beauty slowly, to the point of putting a little salt with the invitation to movement to give this gem the joy of taking four steps in our hearts.
The title song of the album, ALMOST HERE, is simply immense: we are in the USA of the 60s, a melody like a sip of water, the voice like a hidden gospel and questions that advance within a man searching for himself. Everything is painted, whispered, almost faint, essential, with no need for fragments. All it takes is a slightly higher register of voice and everything clicks into place and the heart applauds.
The first Simon & Garfunkel opens HIGHER THAN REASON: it starts with a little pop run, then a stop and the voice vibrating over acoustic guitars, in odour of flamenco, to then clearly notice the attitude so dear to Puressence to give to the refrain the sensation to make a vibrating flight. We are moved by these wounds mentioned in the lyrics and we thank heaven for giving Andy the strength not to sink.
BE READY concludes our listening: a gentle, good-humoured Bob Dylan seems to have written the opening part. We understand that folk music, when it decides to couple with pop, can generate pure, dreamy beauty. A delicate guitar solo leads towards the end with electric strings drawing a melody that is perfect for a farewell.
Alex Dematteis
Musicshockworld
Salford
24 April 2022
https://open.spotify.com/album/5rhxKOGLR6q7Rni9E8jQ9t?si=8Sr2VFlWTNutmnnK7nLbFQ
