Steve Adey - Tower of Silence
Birmingham born Steve Adey's 2nd album Tower of Silence adds a full orchestra to his minimalist sound found on previous release All Things Real. Steve has a barebones approach to music making that make an ethereal mark on the air.
Tower of Silence is a 10-track album of calmed, pondering tracks that softly drift out of your stereo and calm you to steady stop. The songs on this album are most likely to arrive to your ears via a rom-com type setting, when the main characters heart has been shattered into a million pieces by a plot twist that you saw coming 10 minutes ago. Happy sounding music this is not, but music doesn't have to be cheery or complex to be beautiful. There is a simple elegance to the composition of Adey's work that makes you want to hear more. In past interviews he has spoken of being influenced by such acts as Will Oldham and Talk Talk, and personally I would compare the delivery style to that of Alexi Murdoch. Even more so on this release which saw the introduction of a full orchestra to give a more rounded big band sound.
This album and others like it have been rightly classed by Uncut magazine as folk fatalism and I couldn't agree more. Brilliantly melancholy with a hint of melodrama even tracks like Laughing are more of an open ended question to possible joy than an expression of the emotion itself.
My standout track is Farewell Sorrow as this track more than others sounds like a modernised folk song of old. I can imagine it being belted out after battle in lament of the lost. Whilst not for everyone, this record is of a high standard and despite its joyless sounds its quite enjoyable. I recommend it served with whisky on the rocks in a comfortable seat located in a poorly lit smoky room that's drenched in nostalgia.