Label: Warner Music Group
Release date: 4. 12. 2020
Production: Blackfield
Album length: 30.18 min
Genre: Art Rock / Pop / Alternative Rock
Rating: 7.0/10
Blackfield is a project born from the collaboration between Israeli pop star and singer-songwriter Aviv Geffen and British musical monster Steven Wilson. »Fort the Music« is already their sixth studio album, and ever since »Welcome to My DNA« (2011), the project has been turning more and more into Geffen’s solo vehicle. The new sixth album, »For The Music«, underlines that trend even more strongly. Wilson does appear on three tracks with vocals, and he also contributed some guitars to the record and, of course, his trademark tricks as a genius sound engineer.
The vibe, the energy, the production and the style are all instantly recognizable and, as always, a kind of artistic one-off. »For the Music« will certainly stay interesting and appealing for every fan of the band’s project, but it’s no longer as captivating as the earlier albums, especially the numbered ones, which include the previous two Blackfield records, »IV« and »V«. That said, quite a few tracks on »For The Music« put Geffen squarely in the singer-songwriter role. They’re performed with piano and acoustic guitar, with a fragile, tender delivery that’s supposed to intensify the message of Geffen’s personal, confessional sermons (After All, Garden of Sin, It’s So Hard).
The atmosphere is once again dark, melancholic, yearning, and at moments even psychedelic, while the genre mix of alternative rock, pop and art rock reflects a bare-minimum of progressive rock maneuvers, which are a reminder of Wilson’s presence on the album and, of course, his instantly recognizable production tricks.
The tracks that bring the full arrangement package still win out. That means a compact rhythm, a bassline, rustling pastel curtains of synths and piano, and an interplay of vocal duets between Wilson and Geefen. With the exception of »Summer’s Night«, which goes nowhere and unconvincingly tries to repackage the idea used in the album’s title track, accompanied by a way-too-obviously clicked-together beat that clashes with the vocal duet, the rest of the tracks in that arrangement setting are the highlights of the new album. That goes for the gripping opener »For The Music«, joined later by »Under My Skin«, »White Nights« and »Falling«. Among the calmer, singer-songwriter-leaning moments on the album, »Over & Over« is the definitive winner. Wilson takes the lead vocal on it. Compare the way the composition is built, and especially its vocal interpretation, with all the quieter tracks where Geffen takes the lead, and this song jumps up a few quality steps. »Over & Over« is really Wilson’s work from head to toe. Especially gripping in its melancholy and mystique, it could easily have turned up on a Porcupine Tree album too.
There’s just over half an hour of music in total. It has to be said that »For The Music« isn’t exactly what this project is really capable of, but still. Recording the same album twice would have been plain boring. Far from their strongest, but by no means a bad effort. This time just good, or solid. It doesn’t surprise in anything, it bores at times, and at times it really grabs you. It would have been a lot better if it had grabbed you non-stop, though. It’s got a hugely promising start, but as the album goes on, it turns out that one swallow doesn’t make a summer. The weakest Blackfield release to date.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. For The Music
2. After All
3. Garden Of Sin
4. Under My Skin
5. Over & Over
6. Falling
7. White Nights
8. Summer’s Gone
9. It’s So Hard
Line-up:
Aviv Geffen – vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, guitars, programming
Steven Wilson – vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, guitars, programming
