Oh Jonathan, Prince Of Dorkness On Earth, why is this new album so short (36’), with two reprises of songs already on the album?
One might argue that they sound different, yes like take #1 is different from take #13. I have nothing against including more than one take of a song but look, the Stooges when they released the outtakes of Funhouse covered 6 CDs. We had hours of Iggy to listen to. Why is the spelling of the title of the French song faulty, when you sing rather fluently in French and have enough friends in France who could have helped you on that matter ? “sa voix m’Atisse” is just not meaning anything in French, (just like I did a misspelling in my first sentence where I meant to write Darkness). Did you really mean to involve Matisse the painter in this ? I don’t think so, because in the bi-lingual reprise you translate it by “her voice Stirs me up”, which would translate in “ sa voix m’attise”. A very nice poetic song by the way which, without prejudice from my side, is higher grade than the Italian one (“We’ll be the noise, we’ll be the scandal”, no kidding ! you’re too kind to be the scandal). Don’t take me wrong I like this mini album (without the reprises it lasts 32 minutes), and my two obvious first choices are “My affected accent” and “The sea was calling me home (Reprise)”.
As usually you are very skilled in the building up of your compositions and here it is operating like magic. “My affected accent” starts with chords and singing which reminded me of “Nineteen in Naples”, but just when I felt uncomfortable figuring out you were recycling old recipes came the bridge to another shore. The song evolves in that, oh so regretted by me, old Modern Lovers style,
Pic by Chester Simpson 1980
grooving rythms, let it go spirit and witty lyrics (“ I had a fake professorial rolling O, O, O, I talked about things I didn’t knOOw").
The other song sounds like your new way which Chimaerandi wrote so accurately about. The cello backing up on the reprise of “The sea was calling me home” is a brilliant idea to pull this sad song to the Velvet Underground dark playground . It is the song which I have programmed on replay.
Melancholy and disillusionment look like the main inspiration of many beautiful songs here, “Even though I know I am the wind and the sun”, “Bitter herb”. A song like “If you want to leave our party, just go” would never had been so gloomy ten years ago, and it really moved me. The production on “Winter afternoon by B.U. in Boston” does not do justice to that nostalgic Bostonian song, the metronomic drums are far too much in the forefront and cover Jonathan guitar playing and singing, another take could have been included to extend the length of this EP. Unpredictable Jonathan, thanks for these new songs.
