Artist: Blackfield
Label: Snapper Records
Release: 2007
What do you get if you start compressing the sound of today’s Porcupine Tree? Say, strip away the long arrangements and the complexity, and focus only on hammering home the core motifs? Short tracks. On top of that, you push the keyboards up front and, above all, Wilson’s vocals, doubling them and harmonizing them in a duet with the Israeli singer Aviv Geffen? Ambient pop rock with the post-“Stupid Dream” Porcupine Tree DNA buried deep inside it.
So the atmosphere is familiar. Depression and melancholy in abundance. If you’re mad about sad songs, this is a superb ear massage, and then some! A perfect balm for the soul or a wounded heart, one you can use to lick your wounds for a long, long time. Wilson’s new brainchild is of course called Blackfield, and the second record, “Blackfield II”, is now in front of us, following the 2004 debut “Blackfield I”. By the way, speaking of depression, those of you with suicidal tendencies might want to skip Some Day, given the mournful atmosphere trapped inside that song.
With the new record, Blackfield stay firmly in the saddle, holding the reins of the debut. Once again, the dreamy, moody state is with us every step of the way, sonically filled with a polished, multilayered abundance of many-colored sound collages, with Wilson as their father. In the background hang curtains of “soundscapes”, typical of the Porcupine Tree story, which make up the bulk of the sound that’s recognizable for Blackfield too. Classical piano is also present to a much greater extent than with Porcupine Tree. The rhythmic foundation is minimal, but alive, and belongs squarely in easygoing pop rock. Wilson often builds up the mood by layering soundscapes on top of each other, creating an intense wall of sound that keeps wafting intoxicatingly from the background. In the production itself, of course, you can’t miss the guitars. The opening track Once, for instance, has a smeared, trendy guitar riff that injects a nice dose of adrenaline, but still, you can’t shake the dark feeling that blankets “Blackfield II”. On top of that, Wilson uses tried-and-tested tricks in places, like the guitar “stereo chorus” effect (Miss U), which underlines the state of entranced dreaminess, and the guy certainly doesn’t neglect the “space feel” with Blackfield either, using “glissando” guitar tricks, a typical hallmark of today’s Porcupine Tree. The whole record is built on mid-tempo songs or songs with a completely calm pace, which is ideal for achieving the “brain paralysis” effect on the listener when you stack individual layers of sound onto tempos like these, the way Steven Wilson knows how to.
Blackfield manage an interesting and successful blend of the modern-sounding and the traditional. There’s a natural sound to the vocal harmonies, for which Aviv Geffen and Steven Wilson are the ideal lead vocalists (Where Is My Love? stands out), since the melancholy is extremely intense through their retro Beatles approach (Christenings will appeal even to fans of Britpop). The moment of heightened retro ecstasy that sits on the acoustic-led 1.000 People, which grows dynamically, with the intensity of its sensual vocals swelling from second to second, definitely doesn’t escape the ear. Then there are the aforementioned retro collages of added guitars and classical piano, which further creates and underlines that dreamy moment, along with the curtains of “soundscapes” in the background. The listener, so enchanted, often wakes up from them with no trouble at the spots where sudden, massive blasts of simple, modern-smeared yet penetrating guitar riffs kick in, adding an alternative element to this, roughly speaking, “prog pop rock” album. It’s all joined together in an incredibly coherent, mosaic-like way, and the album flows through its running time like butter. The basic musical direction is built on creating expressive main motifs that lodge in your ear right away. This once again underlines the artistic talent of Steven Wilson, the “eternally suffering soul with a bleeding heart”. Epidemic stands out on “Blackfield II” in this blending, though there are no major swings in quality between the songs. What surprises, though, is a moment of theatricality from late, Waters-era Pink Floyd in End Of The World, with its waltz rhythm section and prominent classical piano, making it the ideal choice for a highly dramatic close to the album. The two musicians pulled off one more thing. Through the composing, they successfully brought in a freshness of musical ideas, which means that on “Blackfield II” you’re not facing the danger of the artist “repeating themselves” for a single moment.
Wilson is a master at configuring minimalisms into a mosaic-like, fulfilled musical picture, both sonically and compositionally. “Blackfield II” confirms this merging of short, simple and concise tricks into the compact core of well-crafted songs, expressive choruses and pre-choruses. Blackfield remain a gorgeous attraction on the fashionable music horizon even after the second record. If you’re in love with Porcupine Tree, you’ll find yourself 100% at home inside Blackfield. Especially all of you who love the shorter, commercially oriented Porcupine Tree tracks a la Open Car, Lazarus or She Moved On. Blackfield don’t hide their commercial potential. But it’s not that “simple”. It’s a compact mix of pop, alternative approaches, psychedelic retro moments and the harder riff-driven bursts of modern production, which, joined together in harmony, don’t hide a high musical intelligence.
Lineup
Steven Wilson – guitar, vocals
Aviv Geffen – guitar, vocals
Daniel Salomon – piano
Seffy Efrati – bass guitar
Tomer Z – drums
Production
Steven Wilson
Track list
1. Once (4:03)
2. 1.000 People (3:54)
3. Miss U (4:13)
4. Christenings (4:37)
5. This Killer (4:06)
6. Epidemic (4:59)
7. My Gift of Silence (4:05)
8. Some Day (4:22)
9. Where is My Love? (2:59)
10. End of the World (5:13)
Album length: 42:30
