Label: Insideout Music
Release date: 10/23/2020
Production: Jakko M. Jakszyk
Length: 49.06 min
Genre: Progressive Rock / Singer / Songwritter
Rating: 10/10
Jakko M. Jakszyk, singer and guitarist of prog-rock titans King Crimson, is a fascinating and creative musician as a solo artist too. “Secrets & Lies” is his eighth solo album and the follow-up to “Waves Swap the Sand”, which came out in 2009. Right off the bat, you should know that “Secrets & Lies” is a real treat for every King Crimson fan and every lover of ‘old-school’ progressive rock, since most of the compositions were originally conceived, in embryonic form, for a potential new King Crimson album. At least two of the tracks could easily have landed on a King Crimson studio record, if their boss Robert Fripp were just a little less eccentric and weren’t slowly turning into a second-childhood old man.
So it’s no surprise that on various “Secrets & Lies” tracks Jakko is joined by, besides the aforementioned eccentric guitar legend ‘with issues’, his other King Crimson buddies: cult bassist Tony Levin, drum grandmaster Gavin Harrison and the outstanding saxophonist/flutist Mel Collins. Prog fans will also be happy to hear that Van der Graaf Generator ‘thunderer’ Peter Hammill lends his vocal and guitar talents to two songs on “Secrets & Lies”.
On “Secrets & Lies”, where most of the compositions build an incredibly harmonious bridge between technical mastery, experimental subtlety and arranger’s melodicism, Jakko smartly weaves in some world-music elements on top of the signature King Crimson sonic traits, and almost in passing whips up a few melancholic ballads, the kind that have already won over even those who swear mainly by the experimental side of his music.
“The Trouble With Angels”, “It Would Make Sense” and “Uncertain Times” are three tracks from “Secrets & Lies” that were also released as singles with accompanying videos when the album came out. The lyrics on “Secrets & Lies” cover an incredibly rich range of themes that touch on all sorts of things, from his personal experiences over the past twenty years to political topics like Brexit, the rise of populism and neofascism, and the unrest in the Middle East.
Opener “Before I Met You” kicks off with a thoroughly characteristic King Crimson guitar riff that soon grows into a complex yet melodic and ambient-wise gorgeous adventure, with Gavin’s trademark, smartly timed, massive drum fills, melancholic Mellotron textures and a top-notch vocal performance from Jakko. The lyrics tell of a schizophrenic man in midlife crisis who leaves his wife and child to start an affair with a much younger woman, a B-movie actress, who he later finds out, to his disappointment, has also shot plenty of scenes for adult audiences.
“The Trouble With Angels (For Kimberly)” is a much more personal piece, with plenty of still-life passages and an almost balladic bent. The song is dedicated to a mysterious person from Jakszyk’s life. Fragile piano arrangements are backed with remarkable finesse by Levin’s mighty, unmistakable bass lines and synced up with Jakko’s subtle guitar passages.
“Fools Mandate” was written in collaboration with Hammill, who plays guitar and adds extra vocals on it, while Jakko reworked Peter’s lyrics a bit and gave them a socially critical edge, as the song deals with the ‘eternal’ Middle Eastern conflict. Fittingly, you can hear world-music elements and the occasional use of pentatonic scales among the guitar-keyboard harmonies. Within this composition Hammill also brings some experimentally minded guitar passages, while his distinctive voice comes through nicely on the dual harmonies he shares with Jakko.
“The Rotters Club Is Closing Down (A Song For Pip)” was dedicated to the late Pip Pyle, cult drummer of the Canterbury prog-rock scene, who left his mark with bands like Gong, Hatfield and the North and National Health. Jakko drew inspiration for the composition and its lyrics at Pip’s funeral in 2006. This melancholic, balladic piece features a gorgeous ambience, a blend of Jakko’s ethereal singing, subtle guitar passages and sweet-sounding symphonic textures.
“Uncertain Times” is more than obviously a King Crimson song that never was, written together with Gavin Harrison, whose smartly timed, branching fills play a major part, while this time it’s Jakko’s vocal chameleonism and the melancholic closing guitar solo that impress most. The lyrics have a sharp social-critical edge, harshly slamming Brexit and warning about the current, increasingly dangerous rise of populist chauvinists and neofascists with insatiable autocratic ambitions.
“It Would Make Sense”, which thanks to its epic chorus ranks among the highlights of the album, is the second of two tracks on “Secrets & Lies” written with Italian musicians Nicolo Lori and Stefano Panunzi. It’s yet another piece that’s so strong in quality, atmosphere, message and experimental design that Robert Fripp has every reason to be sorry he won’t use it for a future King Crimson album. Packed into this melancholic and incredibly subtly arranged masterpiece are plenty of jazzy and funky rhythmic elements, smart time changes and a brilliant instrumental section, while the epic chorus is the reason it made perfect sense for Jakko to release it as a single.
“Secrets, Lies & Stolen Memories” is a relatively short instrumental with mighty orchestral arrangements and a melancholic guitar solo. In the end it works as a very good, epic overture to “Under Lock & Key”, where Fripp’s contribution on guitar and ‘frippertronics’ can be heard from a mile away. This time Jakko and Robert created a melancholic ballad of wide ambient expanses, with the emphasis on an ethereal vocal performance, one that could easily sit on a potential King Crimson album as a kind of ‘still life’ between the more experimental and energetic exploits.
“The Borders We Traded”, which in embryonic form was meant for one of Jakko’s past solo efforts, deals in its lyrics with his experiences with the family that adopted him and his ‘real’ family. The standouts here are the poignant, ethereal vocal harmonies. “Trading Borders” is a shorter but ambient-rich piece with a Celtic-flavored melody written by Jakko’s daughter Amber, while her dad this time plays Irish whistles on top of guitar and keyboards.
The peak of the whole album is the closing track “Separation”, whose lyrics fiercely attack a modern society obsessed with narcissism. It’s a pure King Crimson creation, with Fripp’s signature guitar phrases, experimental rhythmic nuances between Levin and Harrison, short Jakszyk guitar improvisations, Collins’ saxophone mischief, Harrison’s smart time changes and brilliant, occasionally multi-voiced vocal feats. Hammill’s backing vocal lines make it all even better. Every one of the King Crimson members mentioned above takes part, and they all get their moment to shine. So this is yet another “Secrets & Lies” composition that Fripp can bang his head against the wall over for never using it on the obviously doomed new King Crimson album, even though a shortened version came out on the compilation “The Elements of King Crimson” (2014).
“Secrets & Lies” isn’t just the peak of Jakszyk’s solo output so far, it’s also one of the progressive-rock studio highlights of 2020, and under different circumstances at least half the tracks on the album could have appeared on a potential, never-to-be King Crimson album. Even though Jakko worked on this album for more than ten years, it was worth the wait, because on top of the qualities above it reflects his new level of maturity as a composer, arranger, guitarist, singer and producer. By his own account, the biggest influence on his musical ‘growth’ in the period between the Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins project “A Scarcity of Miracles” (2011) and the birth of the new King Crimson was Fripp, who taught him plenty of new musical ideas, guitar techniques and songwriting skills in the studio. Most King Crimson fans would also much rather see Fripp in the role of wise music mentor than as a childish little stomper dressed up in a bee costume.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Before I Met You (5:41)
2. The Trouble with Angels (5:30)
3. Fools Mandate (4:13)
4. The Rotters Club Is Closing Down (4:06)
5. Uncertain Times (5:00)
6. It Would All Make Sense (5:25)
7. Secrets, Lies & Stolen Memories (2:45)
8. Under Lock & Key (4:06)
9. The Borders We Traded (3:05)
10. Trading Borders (2:32)
11. Separation (6:43)
Lineup:
Jakko M. Jakszyk – vocals, guitar
Guest musicians:
Mel Collins – saxophone, flute
Robert Fripp – guitar, keyboards
Gavin Harrison – drums
Tony Levin – bass guitar, Chapman stick
John Giblin – bass guitar
Mark King – bass guitar
Peter Hammill – vocals, keyboards, guitar
Al Murray – backing vocals
