Well,
was it worth waiting for ? It took PG about 10 years to launch his new
‘regular’ studio project, although the man has been involved in quite some
sideway projects (of which the much underestimated ‘Ovo’ is my personal
favourite, along with the ‘Passion’ soundtrack). No less than 140 songs
were carefully prepared for the long awaited successor of ‘Us’ and only 10
of them made the final. And yes, this new album was worth waiting for. PG’s
infinite journey through the unique universe of his own upper areas keeps
unleashing floods of new musical ideas, concepts
and visions that no other sound composer is capable of matching. PG’s
Real World is a melting pot of different cultures, brought together by the
universal language i.e. music. It’s how the real world should be,
actually…It’s also a place where technology is warmly embraced by its
creator : man ! ‘Up’
will certainly enable the listener to explore PG’s musical universe over and
over again. There’s an abundant offer of soundscapes that seem to have been
ingeniously created and recreated, in order to establish a kaleidoscopic
effect. ‘Darkness’
is a dazzling opener, by alternating violent and agonizing outbursts into
calmer, more introspective passages, thus giving PG plenty of room to unravel
his deepest thoughts and fears. ‘Growing up’ opens quite promising before
getting stuck in a dead end street. The way out is provided by ‘Sky blue’,
a gentle song introducing Peter’s daughter Melanie as backing vocalist and
the astonishing and breathtaking vocal contributions of ‘The Blind Boys of
Alabama’. ‘No way out’ is a
fine, more accessible song that reminds me somehow of the ‘So’ period.
Strong chorus, like a flower that unfolds all of its bright colours…a flower
? ‘I
grieve’ is a mournful song about coming to terms with the fact of losing
someone close to you. The atmosphere towards the end of the song changes from
grief to relief. It’s a smooth transition, though. ‘The Barry Williams
Show’ is a witty, somewhat naughty song, completed with rather sexy trumpet
playing by Christian Le Chevretel (what’s in a name ?). One of the most
beautiful songs on this album must be ‘My head sounds like that’, a
broody, dreamy song with marvellous brass playing. ‘More than this’ has a
more poppy tune, thus placing it shoulder to shoulder with ‘No way out’.
Absolute highlight on ‘Up’ is ‘Signal to noise’, with the unique voice
of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Gradually, the tension is being built up to
the point where Peter’s singing ‘wipe out the noise’ is followed by a
rolling thunder of Dhol drums whilst the strings are defying the outer limits
of musical drama. So much tension is hard to cope with…’The drop’, a
simple 3 minutes song (with Peter just playing piano and singing) is a welcome
but necessary pause. Actually, it’s the final song… Reviewed by Piet "Neal" Michem |
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