Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Work of Art
Label: Frontiers Records
Release date: September 22, 2014
Running time: 47:00
Rating: 4/5
Work of Art may still count as newcomers on the scene, but two studio albums in, they’ve proven they’ve got some seriously talented songwriters and sound wizards in their ranks, which makes them one of the most interesting bands around when it comes to re-creating the classic eighties sound for a new era. »Framework« picks up the band’s journey exactly where »In Progress« (2011) left off three years ago.
The lineup is unchanged, and so is the creative nucleus of the Säll/Säfsund duo, who handle the songwriting and the sound. As the band’s third album, »Framework« deepens and cements the character of their musical identity, which is now set firmly in concrete. That’s exactly why the new album no longer surprises as much as the previous two, even though it keeps all the goodness of the proud, ultra-melodic rock bombast served up on »Artwork« and »In Progress«.
The songs once again circle around heartache from busted relationships between men and women and the longing for the perfect romance, which of course never comes. So the lyrics still carry a heap of naivety, and on that front you just can’t expect any special intellectual insight or spiritual depth from the trio. That’s always been the expressive range of the AOR genre. The strengths of this record lie elsewhere again. In a remarkable feel for crafting melodically flawless songs that catch fire the first time you hear them. That’s the general verdict. Into this solid compactness, Work of Art then slip a whole lot of cunningly detailed embellishments, which flourish abundantly especially in the instrumental »mid-eight« passages, where the band once again throws in some tantalizing compositional parallels with the American West Coast AOR approach, and the lead motifs of the individual songs naturally stick to that element too.
Simply put: when the music on an album like »Framework« hits your ears, it quickly becomes clear that Work Of Art have honed their grasp, translation and delivery of the AOR legacy to such perfection that right now they have almost no equal on the planet in this kind of revivalism. »Framework«, as their third studio album, only confirms that with its high quality! Guitar phrases and synth blankets sit in perfect balance, the dialogue of the background accompaniment is woven in flawless coexistence, and the interplay of the two building blocks of the lead motif structures (keys, guitars) creates tremendous dynamics and, through that polished melodicism, a downright predatory pomp! The vocal harmonies are once again masterfully woven into the choruses, which guarantees the atmospheric peaks in the songs.
The quality of the songwriting doesn’t waver anywhere on the album. Eleven songs might sound like a lot, but on the other hand those 11 songs barely add up to 47 minutes of playing time, which means Work of Art ruthlessly streamlined all their ideas and polished them down to the last detail, so there isn’t a single second of »ballast« on the album. And that’s a good thing. The melody and mood stay typical of the Scandinavian approach to melodic rock, or AOR. The melody takes on the Swedes’ superb pragmatism about melodic compactness, and adds elements of the musical aesthetics of the »west coast« AOR legacy, led by bands like Survivor and Toto (in their »The Seventh One« era). Because »Framework« doesn’t blow you away with its artistic brilliance as much as »In Progress« did, since Work of Art laid out the essence of their musical vision on the previous two albums, it offers even more artistic maturity in its dogged, painstaking perfectionism.
Lineup
Lars Säfsund – vocals
Robert Säll – guitar, keyboards
Herman Furin – drums
Production
Robert Säll
Tracklist
1. Time To Let Go
2. How Will I Know?
3. Shout ‘Till You Wake Up
4. Can’t Let Go
5. How Do You Sleep At Night?
6. Over The Line
7. The Machine
8. Hold On To Love
9. Natalie
10. The Turning Point
11. My Waking Dream
