Title: Diamonds Fall
Artist: Phillip Boa & The Voodoo Club
Genre: Indie Rock / Pop / Avantgarde
Release Date: 13th February 2009
Label: Constrictor/Rough Trade
Album Review
There are not many German Indie artists who enjoy such a high international reputation like PHILLIP BOA. His music is swinging between the poles of Pop and Avant-garde and is influenced by the punk movement end of the 70s. The lyrics are full of great, different metaphors and twists. This combination brought forth milestones like ‘Hair’ or ‘Copperfield’ and now about 2.5 years after ‘Faking to blend in’ comes with ‘Diamonds Fall’ an album that’s likely to polarize again.
A rhythmic base frame of bubbling synths, elegant piano, and alienated drums opens ‘Diamonds Fall’ before Phillip Boa’s characteristic voice comes in. His style has often been proclaimed anti-chant. Let’s say it has a distinctive design and especially on this track I think the description ‘anti-chant’ couldn’t be more wrong. ‘Diamonds Fall’ surely is not the bang many have expected the album to start with, but its solemn elegance and well-conceived arrangement is an album opener’s worth. I have a bit of an ambivalent relationship to ‘Fiat Topolino’. On one hand I think it’s a little odd and sounds like from a 70s road movie “Straight from San Remo”, on the other hand it just has a hellish groove with its faster drumming intermixed with the vivid percussions and slightly distorted, meandering guitar work.
But the next one ‘The World has been unfaithful’ caught me right away. Purest melancholy embraces you when it starts. Fragile acoustic parts flirting with endless string layers fill the air. The elaborated rhythm that kicks in at the same time Boa’s voice appears is a little faster than I would have expected but in no way it destroys the beautiful mood. Boa’s husky chant sounds resigning and disappointed “I feel betrayed from all sides”, he sings. Without a doubt a highlight on the album! ‘Lord have Mercy with the 1-Eyed’ preceded the album release. It might not seem like that but if you’ll hear the album in it’s entirely you’ll see that it’s indeed a track that can be considered representative for the album. It starts directly with the full instrumental set which is a viscous lightly reverberating drum beat, piano, and an exuberant string section, while Boa’s reminding me of a preacher talking to the guy up there “Lord have mercy with the 1-eyed / whether you like it or not”.
‘The Race is Over’ picks up a spark of the melancholy of ‘The World has been unfaithful’ first unfolding in the melodic chorus Boa’s singing together with Pia again, while the rest of it is like a little gritty but pure Indie rock. ‘Jane Wyman’ is nothing less than a picturesque, romanticism-infused pop song that with the overly powerful strings makes you think of a beautiful sunset and is complemented by polyrhythmic drums and a Philip Boa with his in my opinion most emotive performance on the album.
Phillip Boa has done what he always does: Not fulfilling any expectations and so ‘Diamonds Fall’ might have become an album that takes getting used to first but it’s still and unmistakably Boa and in the end the invested time to dive under the surface of the tracks will pay off!
Tracklist
01. Diamonds Fall
02. Valerian
03. Fiat Topolino
04. The World has been unfaithful
05. Lord have Mercy with the 1-eyed
06. The Race is over
07. Jane Wyman
08. Coppergirl
09. 60s 70s 80s 90s
10. The Ballad of Pia and Toett
11. DJ Baron Cabdriver
12. Black Light
Line-up
Philip Boa
Pia Lund
Tobias Siebert
Jaki Liebezeit
Website
http://www.phillipboa.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/phillipboaandthevoodooclub
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 8.5 / 10
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