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"Despite a very well crafted and intimate content, by refusing to step out of his comfort zone, Tim Bowness runs the risk of tiring his audience."
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3/5
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For his sixth solo album, Tim Bowness remains loyal to the team that handled the mixing and production on "Flowers at the Scene", his previous album. We thus find his accomplices Brian Hulse and Steven Wilson with whom he collaborated within Plenty for the first one and No-Man for the second one. And as long as we're working with the ex-leader of Porcupine Tree, why don't we bring in other members of this band while we're at it ? That's what Bowness must have thought since the bassist and keyboardist of this band, Colin Edwin and Richard Barbieri respectively, are in the line-up.
If "Late Night Laments" is not a concept album strictly speaking, it offers through the nine tracks that make it up a very dark themes, taken from continuous television news (what a great time we live in!), evoking madness, hate crimes, disease, exclusion, suicide, terrorism... With such subjects, if the music is not the most cheerful, it does not sink into depression and pathos either. The songs follow one another on a rather slow tempo, unfolding their melancholic melodies interpreted in an intimate way by the musicians and sung in a confidential way that Tim Bowness never leaves.
And this is indeed the major reproach that can be made to this record: unless you pay particular attention to the smallest detail (by Tim Bowness' own admission, he imagined it for a listening with headphones), all the tracks end up looking alike and the album can be listened to in a cozy comfort and incites to daydreaming, if not to a certain drowsiness. Each song taken separately is pleasant but the whole lacks surprises and ends up becoming monotonous. If a very attentive listening and an irreproachable production allows to savor the sound palette of the different keyboards and the fine playing of the percussions (special mention to the vibraphone), a more distracted listening unfortunately leaves an impression of boring uniformity.
Some tracks stand out a little from the lot: 'Northern Rain' to which a beautiful bass line brings relief, 'Darkline' where juxtapose elegiac keyboard layers, tubular sounds of the vibraphone and distorted guitars or the harmonious mix of synths and vibraphone on 'One Last Call' are part of the good moments of the album. That's a little bit right.
If the qualities of writing, execution and production are undeniable, the linearity of the melodies and the interpretation makes the whole a little bland, "Late Night Laments" not being distinguished from its predecessors. Refusing to step out of his comfort zone, Tim Bowness risks tiring his audience. An album to be reserved for those who don't know this artist yet or for the hard-die fans who haven't yet tired of a style a bit repetitive. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Northern Rain (04:49) 02. I'm Better Now (03:52) 03. Darkline (03:57) 04. We Caught The Light (03:56) 05. The Hit-man Who Missed (03:21) 06. Never A Place (04:41) 07. The Last Getaway (04:55) 08. Hidden Life (05:05) 09. One Last Call (04:15)
LINEUP:
Tim Bowness: Chant / Synthétiseurs Colin Edwin: Basse / Invité / Contrebasse Evan Carson: Batterie / Invité / Percussions Kavus Torabi : Guitares / Invité / Choeurs Melanie Woods: Invité / Chant (2) / Choeurs Richard Barbieri: Claviers / Invité Tom Atherton: Invité / Percussions
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(0) COMMENT(S)
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READERS
3.7/5 (3 view(s))
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STAFF:
2.7/5 (3 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH TIM BOWNESS
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OTHER REVIEWS
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OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT TIM BOWNESS
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