The king of sleazy listening returns, two years after
Utopian Dreams, with another slice of decadent
hybrid pop fusion. Tenor admits that he’s always
felt a bit of an outsider in life, and his music is
as unconventional, bringing together influences ranging
from jazz, easy listening and film music to psychedelic
rock and cabaret.
Born Lassi Letho, he changed his name to Jimi Tenor
when he formed Jimi Tenor & His Shamans in the mid
eighties. The band, described as a noise/industrial
outfit, released four albums between 1988 and 1992.
Just before the band split, Tenor moved from his native
Finland to Portugal, then Berlin, finally ending up
in New York where he worked as an official souvenir
photographer on top of the Empire State Building for
a while. He hadn’t given up music though, developing
a jazzier, more laidback sound. His first solo album,
Sähkömies, was released in 1994 on
Tommi Grönlund’s Helsinki-based Sähkö
Recordings label. His second album, Europa,
and the consequent tour, brought Tenor to the attention
of Warp’s Steve Beckett who signed him almost
immediately. His first album for his new label, Intervision,
made a strong impression on the European circuit. Mixing
jazz influences with electronic elements – his
video-game rendition of Duke Ellington’s Caravan
remains one of his most intriguing moments – Intervision
gave Tenor the opportunity to explore new avenues and
allowed him to be more adventurous on his following
releases. The darker Organism, possibly Tenor’s
masterpiece, failed to connect the Finn with his new
fans in similar ways, and the orchestral Out
Of Nowhere, his last record for Warp, did very
little to recover the situation. The stripped down follow
up, Utopian Dream, released in 2002, marked
the man’s return to Sähkö, a label he
remains very linked to. Higher Planes denotes
yet another slight alteration to the Tenor sound. More
ambitious than its predecessor, the album shows Jimi
incorporating some elements of the Finnish culture,
on tracks such as Tapiola, loosely based on
a couple of old traditions and legends, the song’s
lyrics denote an element of slight erotism, with Tenor
hammering a 'roll in the grass, roll in the grass, roll
in the grass' 'ritornelle.
Kicking off with the funk-fuelled instrumental Cosmic
Drive, the album calms down rapidly with the beautiful
title track, inspired by the creation of the universe
and the birth of his first child, that he sees as a
creation of the universe on a personal level. Combining
the complexity of orchestral arrangements of Out
Of Nowhere with the more spontaneous approach
heard on Utopian Dream, Tenor seems perfectly
at ease with this collection of upbeat songs, unashamedly
picking his way through 70’s psychedelic rock
and fusion jazz. His compositions seems more mature,
with tracks such as Good Day, Dirty Jimi
or Nuclear Fusion revealing intricate melodies,
served by tightly controlled arrangements.
For this seventh solo album, Jimi Tenor has developed
his sound further than ever before, creating one of
his most consistent and enchanting work to date. If
Intervision was quirky and Out
Of Nowhere slightly over produced, Tenor achieves
a perfect balance.
4.2/5 |
