Everyone who reads this blog knows that I am usually pretty shallow when it comes to my reactions to music – I make snap judgements, I am borderline fetishistic about certain production styles, I find it almost impossible not to completely dismiss anyone too dapper, too attractive or too immaculately groomed, and once bands get too famous or ubiquitous I find it hard not to completely unreasonably lose interest.
Well, here’s another one to add to the hall of shame: I only gave this album as much chance as I did because someone told me that Julian Plenti happened to be that chap out of Interpol (Paul Banks, as his mother knows him). Until that point this was another release where I had half-listened to an mp3 which hadn’t grabbed me in the first twenty or thirty seconds, after which my attention span had drifted and I had lost interest. Sadly, this kind of thing happens to me a lot these days – it’s almost inevitable due to the lack of time I have to try and digest all the music I get sent. I don’t like it, but I don’t think it can be avoided.
Plenti’s press release is worded in a way which I admire, however. In fact, his Interpol past isn’t mentioned at all, so they have clearly decided that they want this music to stand or fall on its own merits, as an independent piece of work. Given the instant audience they could rope in by flogging the Interpol angle, I have a lot of respect for their decision not to. I have to confess, though, that once I had discovered that fact I listened with renewed interest.
Again, it may be superficial, but I thought two things as I finally took time to sit and listen to the whole album: firstly, that I had better give this a proper listen this time, as I knew I had been too hasty the first time; and secondly, that I was genuinely curious to see what that guy from Interpol had in him other than Interpol.
And the answer, it seems, is rather a lot. This album came together, according to the press release, on Plenti’s embracing of modern music software. Software which allows you to sound like a band, to build a big, layered sound, without actually having to have a band. Closer to home, think of the Meursault album: a deep, big, textured sound gradually built up on a laptop from recordings made in someone’s living room.
In a sense, I suppose, it can be a double-edged sword. Yes, it allows you to build a sound at your own pace which is exactly what you want, but at the same time it can cut you off from the creative stimulus of sparking ideas off other people. In this case, maybe because I had grown a little bored of the ‘Interpol sound’ – particularly from their last album, where that sound was about all that was left of a once-great band – it is the the least Interpolly songs which I like the best. Skyscraper is great, Madrid Song is lovely, No Chance Survival and Fun That We Have as well, and they all have an experimental, textured shimmer to them which I really do like.
Conversely, it’s when Plenti goes uptempo that thoughts of ‘ah that chap from Interpol’ can raise their head, and the album loses a bit of its sparkle. Games For Days doesn’t cut it at all, for me personally, sounding just like what made the last Interpol album so lifeless. It’s not all that common though – as Unwind demonstrates, with a downright jaunty trumpet riff bringing something altogether unexpected to the table.
So, I’ve mentioned bloody Interpol in virtually every paragraph in this review, and I accept the fact that Plenti and his band will probably hate me for it. And I have to say that they are right because it is only when this record sounds anything like Interpol that I don’t like it. Ninety-five percent of it is really good, genuinely new, and a real treat. It didn’t grab me immediately, but with every listen I am enjoying this more and more.
Julian Plenti – Skyscraper
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Julian Plenti – Unwind
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Before you break out into a cold sweat about having to sit through another list of the best albums of the decade, don’t worry, this is not one of those. Although most of these songs would be there or thereabouts if I were actually compiling a favourite songs of the decade list, that’s not why they’re here.
It’s Fresh Air time again, and once again Ruth and I have a splendid live session. We might even have Ruth’s voice back, just to make matters even more special.
