Floydian slip for ex-Espers Weeks
Greg Weeks described this solo album as “primarily a response to the atmosphere of apocalypse that permeates the lives of those who are open and receptive to their environment”. It took a while to work out what that was supposed to mean, I assume it’s the misery of the modern age coming out in the music. So it’s surprising to find that the songs here aren’t totally depressing. There’s an air of melancholy that sweeps through the slow mourning of opening tracks ‘You Won’t Be The Same Ever Again’ and ‘The Lamb’s Path’, with bell-like harmonics and sustained keys. Imagine ‘Meddle’-era Pink Floyd or ‘On An Island’ David Gilmour and you won’t be far off the atmosphere of this record. It’s slow, heartfelt, but in a way relaxing and uplifting through the music rather than the lyrics.
It’s not an exciting record. It’s well recorded, thoughtful and with a beautiful slowness, but probably one for the headphones late at night. ‘Lay Low’ is one of the best tracks, with something resembling a catchy refrain. But it’s the bizarre deliberately off-key and kooky version of Madonna’s ‘Borderline’ that boggles the mind, being almost totally unrecognisable from the original. Yet it’s so compelling, the twisted wailing of the keys and flatness of the harmonised vocals. Compelling, yet so, so wrong on some fundamental level. ‘The Hive’ (song) is full of more buzzy keyboards and psychedelic noodling with Weeks’ trademark low-key drawn-out vocals, somewhere between the feel of the first few songs and the unexpected twisting of ‘Borderline’ and ‘Donovan’. At just over 9 minutes long, there seems to be more in common with early Barrett Floyd than just a few wandering keyboards.
As original as the material is, a lot of it is very much in the same vein, so don’t go for it if you’re expecting instant results or a slick comment on society’s ills. This is far more ponderous and meandering in its approach. By ‘Funhouse’ the fuzzy keyboards are starting to wear a bit thin. Then it’s back on the straight and narrow more acoustic route for ‘Not Meant For Light’, as close to a single as this album gets.
Overall this is a complete and flowing album, drifting from one track to another in this great circular mass, rather than just a collection of random songs. It never settles into a comfort zone, adding an understated edge to songs like ‘Donovan’ and ‘Division’. Slow burner, but worth the effort.