Room with a different view
This is the fourth album spawned by the collaboration between Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson and Israeli pop star Aviv Geffen. There is a key difference with this album however in that it is written entirely by Aviv Geffen (although Wilson contributes guitar and vocals).
Opening track Pills is very much in classic Blackfield style, and this trend continues through Springtime. Distinct pop sensibilities are always evident, as indeed they always have been in previous albums, the difference here perhaps is that Wilson's overtly melancholy and darker approach is noticeable by it's absence. You don't notice so much early on in the album as of course Geffen's influence has always been there too, but the deeper you get into it the more you begin to miss those minor chords and big music breaks that Wilson is usually responsible for.
There are a few guest vocalists on this album and the first to get an airing is Vincent Cavanagh from Anathema on the ballad Xray. I have to say it's not the strongest track on the album by a long way, as it lilts along pleasantly enough without ever really going anywhere and although Cavanagh's vocals fit well with the feel of the song he never gets the chance to do much with his voice as there is a distinct lack of dynamics in the song.
Sense Of Insanity feels and sounds like a Geffen solo song with it's upbeat melody and beat. We shouldn't really be surprised by this given that he wrote it and I can imagine that Wilson quite enjoys playing on something different from the norm and breaking out a bit. The second of the guest vocalists is Suede's Brett Anderson on Firefly and this is the first time on the album that Geffen dips into the darker territory normally offered by Wilson. Anderson's voice works really well over the minor chord melody and some decent string parts give it a much fuller feel than the preceding songs, leaving it a definite highlight of the album (although it does end somewhat prematurely).
The Only Fool Is Me featuring Mercury Rev's Jonathan Donahue follows and is another stripped back ballad but as with Xray, whilst being a nice enough song it doesn't go anywhere in particular. Steve Wilson's distinctive vocals stand out on Jupiter and of all the tracks on the album this probably sounds most like the Blackfield of previous albums. This continues with Kissed By The Devil, which flits nicely between light and dark, displaying the kind of dynamics that are missing in the earlier songs. Again though it seems to finish too soon, fading out just as it could really get interesting.
Lost Souls is another strong track, evoking an early 80s gothic feel at times, which leads into penultimate track Faking. Geffen's vocals come across as quite fragile here but often that's when he is most effective. The chorus doesn't quite live up to the promise of the verse and the brass parts are perhaps a little too much, but it's a decent song. Final track After The Rain starts with a beatbox break and some rather obvious lyrics but it layers up quite nicely, and is reminiscent of Air. At less than a minute and a half in length though it seems much like an add on to fill some time though, almost like they ran out of time to develop and finish it properly!
I'll admit I was wary when I heard that Aviv Geffen had written the whole album and you have to say that it does show, there is definitely a feeling that something is missing throughout. That said however it's not a bad album by any means and the stronger songs are probably as good as any of Blackfield's previous material, it just doesn't work as well or flow as well as Welcome To My DNA or Blackfield II. Blackfield fans will find much to like here and such is the way of things that perhaps this is a slow burner, time will tell.