After
six years, Piano Magic finally reach their spiritual home.
Proud offspring of Ivo Watt-Russels’s seminal This Mortal
Coil, Glen Johnson and his magic orchestra have now been
signed to 4AD. Currently, Piano Magic are Johnson, Alasdair
Steer, Miguel Martin and Jerome Tcherneyan, with extra
contributions from Paul Anderson from Tram, Tarwater,
Czars John Grant, ex-Cocteau Twins Simon Raymond and a
multitude of others, intervening at different stages of
this sixth Piano Magic studio album. Adopting a multi-dimensional
form, the only permanent member of the band is actually
London-based Glen Jonhson.
If the four central members of Piano Magic all played
a role in the writing and performing on this record, things
were done on a very informal way, not always all contributing
to every single track, giving Writers Without Homes
a very fluid and diverse feel. The album opens with (Music
Won’t Save You From Anything But) Silence, an almost
parodic take on gothic rock, embodying the 4AD sound of
the early years, giving a sense of the underlying sense
of humour hidden behind some of the compositions presented
here. The rest of the album demonstrates a more subdued
and delicate approach though, with the poetic Postal
being much more in line with things to come. The subtle
touch of downhearted romanticism of Suzy Mangion’s singing,
almost adopting a type-like style to tell the tale of
a temporary postal worker, layered over a toy piano is
one of the most interesting moments here. Elsewhere, Czar
singer John Grant evokes the melancholic pop of the Divine
Comedy, with the full Piano Magic orchestra augmented
with Simon Raymonde on piano, while long-retired sixties
folk chanteuse Vashti Bunyan graces the beautiful Crown
Of The Lost with her first recording for thirty years,
and Suzy Mangion and Paul Anderson come close to revive
the ghost of This Mortal Coil with the pure and brief
It’s The Same Dream That Lasts All Night and
the darker Already Ghosts respectively, the later
also featuring a guest appearance by Spanish film director
Bigas Luna, for whom Jonhson scored the music for his
movie Son De Mar. The album concludes on the sombre and
evocative Shot Through The Fog, featuring once
again Simon Raymonde on piano and regular Piano Magic
collaborator Caroline Potter.
For this first proper album recorded for 4AD, Piano Magic
present a diverse and intelligent series of gloomy songs
supported by subtle arrangements. The band however sticks
to the image of the label a bit too much, slightly loosing
focus on the personality of their music. Writers Without
Homes remain a captivating record that deserves to
be heard and appreciated.
3.5/5 |
