Philip Selway - Strange Dance
Good guy-dance
Who would have believed it? Radiohead drummer releases an album far more melodic than all the side-projects of his sidekicks!
And it isn’t even his first steps, for this is his 3rd solo album already. As a big fan of Oxford quintet up to The King of Limbs not included, I was attracted to his 1st album, mainly thanks to the good single "By Some Miracle", but didn’t go further.
What’s the score of this 2023 release? From the first seconds the tone is set. Piano. Minor mode. Littles cracks tacatacatac. Timbal roll. “Don't believe what they say” ("Little Things") Straight away it’s understood it’s gonna be more 'strange' than 'dance'.
Then come the fleshed out orchestral almost symphonic arrangements. It will be this class all along.
I can see a certain resemblance with Jonathan Bree, the masked New Zealand dandy... except Philip doesn’t have a crooner voice. He sings with a beautiful clear muted yet enveloped voice. That’s good this way. I’ve noticed the songwriter of a song is very often the best choice to defend it as a performer.
Let yourself be surprised by the one who (partially) dropped the sticks during the process, in aid of piano and bass, sometimes guitar. You’ll almost find some Robert Plant (ah the open chords of "Make It Go Away"), a bit of James-style soft experimentation ("Salt Air").
And see, take a piece like "The Other Side". Not astounding at first sight, right? And even a candidate for my "I zap" section. Except that I found myself with the chorus in my head. Superb melody! Which could be approached to the most enthusing tunes of Alphaville. And it’s far from being an isolated case in this album.
Finally, there’s in that more of Bowie (e.g. in "Picking up Pieces") than of Radiohead. Who would have believed it?
-
"What Keeps You Awake at Night" spoils a bit the listening, I think. What a strange idea to put in 2nd place this piece which lugs its 6:57. This stage overcome, everything lights up. Even the length of the harebrained "Strange Dance" (5:57) has to be knocked back till the last drop like good wine.
And you end on an optimistic note ("There'll Be Better Days") which lasts 4 minutes and a half, the average duration of the album pieces. -
Check for Signs of Life
Little Things
Picking up Pieces -
What Keeps You Awake at Night
-
-
The sentence
“These highs and lows leave me numb” ("Strange Dance")
-
him
-
...And now, listen!
-
Tags
-
Created17 April 2023
-