Highlights: She Found Now, Only Tomorrow, Who Sees You, In Another
Way
This was hilariously
unexpected, of course, but the album had to be released at some point. The fact
that it took Kevin Shields more than 20 years to finally come out and do it
cannot just be explained by neurotic perfectionism. Hell no. The brilliant Loveless was released three years after
the equally brilliant Isn’t Anything.
And like I’ve noted numerous times before, only Kate Bush can get away with that
sort of thing.
In terms of sound – no
surprises. Which is just as well. Shields is not building on the remarkable
sound of that gorgeous shoegaze delirium, not trying to expand it in any way.
What he is doing on m b v is just
reveling, wallowing in those dense textures he dreamt up way back when. And
while I’m at it, it was certainly to be expected that a new album from My
Bloody Valentine would generate lots of hysterical reactions, from fans as well
as from those who tried to get into or at the very least understand the
overblown/underground hype (and – obviously – this is exactly what m b v has generated). Apparently many
people were frustrated that Shields is pretty much stuck in the place where he
was last seen. It is almost as though these people wanted My Bloody Valentine
to go disco or something.
Having said that, the
final three songs do show some sonic development. And while the instrumental “Nothing
Is” is nothing much, “Wonder 2” is interesting – Shields trying to squeeze in as
much funk as possible without compromising his trusty shtick. You can’t really
discuss m b v in terms of highlights,
but that’s because the record is very even and homogenous. I’ve singled out the
first three songs simply because their Loveless
vibe seems so comforting. Layers of colourful noise interwoven with dreamy,
unassuming melodies. Also, I quite like the idea to break the whole thing up
with three quiet, ballad-like dreamscapes that occupy the middle part of the
album.
Regardless of what you
might think of the band’s defining classic, its mammoth cult status has made it
impossible for Shields to record an adequately perceived follow-up. However,
you really do get what you want: you get Loveless;
you get a taste of what could have come next; you get My Bloody Valentine of
2013. Yes, it’s a great band stuck in their sound, but I couldn’t care less if it is simply because Kevin Shields is unable to do anything else with it.
The sound good. "C-" for the cover, though.
8/10
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