Geordie Greep - The New Sound Review
The New Sound has the level of ambition that you’d expect from Geordie Greep, pushing the boundaries of what he can get away with.
I often think it’s interesting to consider how an album will be viewed in, say, 20- or 30-years’ time. Realistically, it’s quite sad how many well-liked albums just get completely lost in that time, and the decreasing number of physical copies of records that keep them alive just by being found in the glove compartment of a car can only increase this phenomenon. Black Midi, as a group, will have found themselves in a funny position within this framing. I reckon few can admit to having a really close connection to their music in the way past groups with cult followings have managed, but they’re a key reference point – and standard setter – for the “Windmill Scene” movement whose hay-day has now passed, so they’ll probably automatically be immortalised due to that alone.
The impenetrability of a lot of their music is not lost on Geordie Greep, which he lamented in a recent interview with The Guardian. “Music is for your ears, not your brains” or something like that. Anyway, so where does that leave us with his debut solo album, “The New Sound”? I guess somewhere closer to casual listening, but definitely not as close as Mr Greep might want to believe.
Lyrically, we are taken through vignettes of moments of interaction and the inner thoughts of a cavalcade of characters. Each image conjured on each track, here, falls within a general theme of fracturing facades of hyper-masculinity. From the bravado of a man soliciting a sex worker at a bar breaking as he notices he’s taken it too far, found on Holy Holy, to Through a War’s narrative of a man huddling a group close as he fondly recounts his war crimes – and getting an STD from an exoticised woman he falls in love with while he’s at it.
These two tracks, Holy Holy and Through a War, are two of the biggest highlights on the album. On these tracks, we can see Greep’s catchy, proggy, maximalist instrumental vision fully realised, with some cheesy sonic references that (to me, at least) are ironic and fun. At the same time, his voice, full of character and eccentricity, is also allowed to play to its strengths. Through a War is, strangely for Greep’s background, a bit of an earworm.
The Magician also allows Greep’s voice to flourish, adding to the drama of the song’s peaks and troughs. I have also always found that Geordie Greep has a real talent for allowing the mouthfeel of certain words to be truly appreciated – never before have I enjoyed the word “perambulate” this much, I reckon. However, while The Magician highlights his vocal strengths, I think that it also shows us Greep’s limitations – sprechgesang to dramatic bellows are his clear strong suit. Contrast this with the softer, higher pitch required for the short vocal cameo in Bongo Season, where he sounds strained and lacking in confidence, pulling you out of the album’s mise en scene.
Bongo Season comes at a weak point in the album, following Motorbike, where producer Seth Evans takes the mic. Basically, I wish he hadn’t. I’ve heard criticisms that Greep sounds like he’s auditioning for musical theatre, but at least that’s just what his voice sounds like. Evans, however, sounds like he is auditioning for musical theatre, but he might never have seriously tried singing before. The tension of this track’s instrumentation, as a result, feels rather wasted.
Another key issue with The New Sound is the flow of the album, particularly in its first act. Up to and including Walk Up, no song feels like it naturally follows the last, despite them all being strong tracks in their own right. Lyrically, we’re given a cohesive concept album, which I love. Sonically, however, it’s a bit of a mishmash. While the eclectic genre references add to the appeal of The New Sound, I think there is a lack of thought put into how to string these together. As the title track, which sounds like elevator music on a concoction of drugs, ends, the intro to Walk Up – itself a great track – feels like it should be about a chapter later.
Back on the positive side, As if Waltz, sees Greep back at his strengths with lyrical storytelling, allowing us into the thoughts of a man dreaming of a loving, married life with a sex worker. While there is a general sort of mocking tone to the lyrics of many of the tracks here, as toxic flavours of masculinity are dissected, As if Waltz has gentler, sadder narration. Instrumentally, the track ebbs and flows between a Slint-y riff and a waltz string arrangement, as we are led into the beautiful, tragic, and slightly deranged dream world of the narrator.
The New Sound has the level of ambition that you’d expect from Geordie Greep, pushing the boundaries of what he can get away with. Most of the time, this goes down well, with witty yet profound lyrics and unique, somewhat whimsical soundscapes. At other points, the album can be overly indulgent and disjointed, to the detriment of a cohesive listening experience. Future cult classic? Most likely. But possibly a pretty niche one.
