I quite liked Japan without going overboard on them, and really rated Sylvian’s collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto on Forbidden Colours, but hadn’t taken too much notice of his solo work until buying a cassette of Secrets Of The Beehive (pennies in a Woolworth sale) and loving it. So it was about ten years after release that I stumbled across this, Sylvian’s solo debut.
He’s attracted some interesting guests - two out of three former Japan band mates (Jansen, Barberi), jazz/experimental wind men Jon Hassell and Kenny Wheeler, Sakamoto, Holger Czukay, bassist Danny Thompson.
It’s a slow start, with the opening tracks listenable but not inspiring. However, the beautiful Nostalgia changes that, aided by Wheeler’s haunting flugelhorn, before the more upbeat Red Guitar. Weathered Wall is a song underpinned by Hassell’s trademark trumpet playing, while Backwaters flows on a bass synthesiser riff, with Czukay’s occasional dictaphone contribution punctuating Sylvian’s vocal. Finally, the title track, a lovely Sylvian vocal, with a percussive run off overlaid with more Hassell trumpet.
I like this, but it feels like a work in progress. Sylvian hasn’t found his solo feet, and there’s decades of fun to come.
3* - a great debut but… is almost becoming a cliché. And perhaps my judgment is clouded by knowing what follows. There’s a lot to like about this album, but it doesn’t quite hang together as a work.
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