Jazz has made a vigorous come back over the last ten years,
as dance artists started exhuming influences ranging from
Miles Davis to Herbie Hancock. The likes of St Germain,
Nightmares On Wax or the
whole of the acid jazz scene have all borrowed multiple
elements of the genre, modernising them, adapting them
to their needs. As part of the Sandals, in the mid nineties,
Ian Simmonds explored these themes, and still does to
this day.
After the demise of his band, Simmonds resurfaced in 1999,
with Last States Of Nature, his first solo album.
A year later, he released The Hill, under his
Juryman alias. Return
To X continues his journey into jazz, dub and electronica,
and sees him ingurgitating cinematic influences as well.
The work of John Barry insinuates itself at regular intervals
along the album, and faces the listener from the first
measures of Fathom’s Down. Building on a syncopated
beat and an omnipresent bass, which forms the blueprint
for the rest of the album, Simmonds adds a melody played
on a harpsichord. This incongruent marriage, reminiscent
of the theme for TV series The Persuaders, if disconcerting
at first, gives the track an unusual feel of desuetude.
Swingin Millie, Ocean Hill and Jet
all work along the same line, with various success. If
Swingin Millie is very groovy, it is too similar
to Fathom’s Down to really differentiate itself
enough. Ocean Hill and Jet benefit of
a more radical sound, which helps the tracks making a
more enduring impact. No Bamboo, one of the best
moments of Return To X, sees Simmonds adopting
a more purely electronic approach, and the track evokes
some of Black Dog’s
work circa Bytes. The man can’t keep away from
his abstract be-bop for long though, and Alvin’s Blues
is another instant of pure bliss. Although the track doesn’t
evolves much, the groove is overwhelmingly exciting. The
rest of the album more or less navigates between these
extremes, introducing some surprising moments, as in the
rather upbeat Body Sound, where a piano underlines
the infernal beat structure before the album comes to
an end.
Ian Simmonds has developed a very personal sound since
Last States Of Nature, and create, with Return
To X, an interesting, if sometimes too linear, record.
3/5 |
