Title: The Perilous Beauty of Madness
Artist: Dark Blue World
Genre: Alternative
Release Date: 22nd January 2009
Label: Big Blue Records
Album Review
Incisive lyrics and a very individual vocalist in Elizabeth Fischer are the two things which strike you about the first track 'Demimonde'. It has an earthy, bluesy feel to it and it's very listenable with some cracking guitar work hiding away in there giving it a very retro feel. 'I looked for you' starts hauntingly with tortured strings navigating a simple vocalisation of the same over observant lyrics and this is very bluesy with lots of very chilled semi-discordant jazz cords kicking around suggesting smoky bar rooms and so forth. I like it, it's nothing if not atmospheric and the writer has a nice turn of phrase. 'Tracking the Detectives' has a much more contemporary feel to it, although there is still the signature sense of blues there which tells you whose track it is. So far this is a very tight and ambient album, with great musicianship and just a hint of threatening.
'On a wire' begins languidly and builds to a great insistent crescendo whilst 'Luck of the draw' is snappy and upbeat with a compulsive rhythm and grim subject matter, and is a highlight of the album. 'Drift away' and 'Nothing's Ever' are both respectable and enjoyable enough tracks although somewhat different in style, the former being more static than the latter, a livelier track altogether, whilst a vapid dreamlike riff commands your attention for track eight ' Falling Man' and the vocal is sublimely clear. 'Give me a reason' changes mood entirely, it has the same incisive lyrics but this time the music is altogether sadder whilst at the same time managing to sound inspirational. 'This war' is a symphony of discord and disharmonious thoughts and is quite striking although not really something you'd ever find yourself humming and then it's the final track 'Something' with it's rabid drum beats and orchestral threats behind a really grim and great vocal.
This album might just be a victim of it's own greatness, because it's clever on every level and really beautifully performed, but nothing on it is really anything that sticks in your mind afterwards, which is a pity because it's really, really excellently produced thanks to Greg Reely and unlike anything else on the scene. If you like dark lyrics, clever music and a vocalist that's not afraid to stretch their abilities and cross genres then this is definitely an album for you.
Tracklist
01. Demimonde - 4:43
02. I Looked For You - 4:29
03. Tracking The Detectives - 6:25
04. On A Wire - 6:01
05. The Luck Of The Draw - 3:50
06. Driftaway - 7:28
07. Nothing's Ever As It Seems - 4:00
08. Falling Man - 6:42
09. Give Me A Reason - 4:29
10. This War - 4:43
11. Somebody - 4:24
Line-up
Elizabeth Fischer - vocals, text, crappy accordion noodling, fits of Hungarian gloom
Ron Samworth - guitar, guitar-on-back bicycle heroics, divaesque nitpicking, connoisseurship of fine wines
Skye Brooks - percussion, plant life, dépassé yet engaging sweetness-and-light
Pete Schmitt - bass, beads, postering in all the right places. Also rides from rehearsals but then the car died
Chad Macquarrie - guitar, contortive undercurrents of intense caring. Poetically inclined and thus moves a lot.
Website
http://www.darkblueworld.ca/ / http://www.myspace.com/darkblueworldca
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Extras:-
Total: 8 / 10
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