Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES

Classic Pop NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022 - by Steve Harnell

BRIAN ENO: FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE

Moved by the global climate change catastrophe, Brian Eno's vocals dominate the majority of one of his solo albums for the first time since 2005's Another Day On Earth. While a hymn-like solemnity is the abiding atmosphere here, these songs are a call for self-reflection rather than pronouncements from upon high. Eno offers no easy answers or political solutions although it's abundantly clear he feels we're not blameless in the ecological predicament we find ourselves in.

Eerily, There Were Bells received its live premiere when Eno performed at the Acropolis in Athens last summer - the stage bathed in smoke as wildfires raged in the surrounding Greek countryside. Eno's vocals, aged in a lower register than his early solo work, bring a gravitas to proceedings, as a dense soundscape writhes underneath Who Gives A Thought. Icarus And Blériot is almost an out-of-body experience while the "these billion years will end" refrain that drives Garden Of Stars makes for a chilling listen.

Meanwhile, Sherry crystallises Eno's trepidation about the future and its lack of a roadmap ("no clear lines to guide us") and his duet with daughter Darla on I'm Hardly Me is a deft yin-yang mix of his sonorous tones and her ghostly vocoderised contribution. A moving and reflective record, this is among Eno's most emotive solo works.