Album Review: Bryan Ferry, "Avonmore" (2014)

Album cover of "Avonmore," showing a young Bryan Ferry from the 1970's.

This is the cover image that Amazon showed for Bryan Ferry's "Avonmore" before it was released.

Bryan Ferry, mid-1970's, looking like the cat that swallowed the canary.

Bryan Ferry in 2014, still as handsome and well-dressed as ever.

Bryan Ferry’s 15^th solo studio album “Avonmore” was released last month, and it’s yet another excellent piece of smooth pop from the former Roxy Music frontman. Ferry’s music hasn’t changed a great deal since 1980 or so, when the rough edges got sanded off of Roxy Music, but he still puts out perfectly glossy, elegant records full of beautiful midnight ennui. Ferry’s solo albums since 1985’s “Boys and Girls” are usually as smooth as a pane of glass, and “Avonmore” is no exception to that. 

“Avonmore” features eight new Ferry originals and two covers. Ferry is in great voice throughout the record. His voice has been burnished by the years, and that brings a certain melancholic quality to it that fits his songs very well. Ferry’s voice now sounds as world-weary as his songs have always been. “Avonmore” was produced by Ferry and Rhett Davies, who has worked with him off and on since the Roxy Music days. There are a lot of layers of sound going on, but “Avonmore” never feels overproduced. Ferry is supported by an all-star cast of musicians, including Nile Rodgers, Johnny Marr, Mark Knopfler, and Flea. Ferry’s son Tara plays drums on all of the songs, except for “Johnny and Mary,” and Ferry himself plays keyboards throughout the album. 

The track listing for “Avonmore” is as follows:

“Loop De Li”: A catchy song, featuring some hallmarks of Roxy Music’s sound, like an oboe and a saxophone. Ferry’s lyrics tell the story of someone caught in a pattern or loop with no way out. Ferry sings, “Well I know you know/we’re killing time/we’re on an up down see-saw/loop de li.” A beautiful portrait of alienation.

“Midnight Train”: There are 9 guitarists on this song! But somehow it doesn’t sound overstuffed, just polished like a smooth river stone. “Midnight Train” is one of my favorite songs on the album. Ferry has a way of making lyrics that could sound like clichés sound fresh. The song is full of romantic yearning, as Ferry sings, “I’ll never know/the meaning of your kiss/midnight train/must it end/like this?” I can just imagine Ferry standing forlornly at a train station, waiting for his girlfriend to come back, looking sad and handsome in a trench coat smoking a cigarette. 

“Soldier of Fortune”: Co-written with Johnny Marr, the guitarist from The Smiths. It has a laid-back insistence. Features some great guitar playing, this time from only 3 guitarists. As usual, Ferry is in pain in this song, as he sings, “I’m going out of my mind/and I won’t be back again.” 

“Driving Me Wild”: This song has something of an ominous feeling, as Bryan sings in the first verse, “My heart is pounding/I’m trembling with rage/I’m wrestling with my demons/on every page.” A woman is driving him wild, and Ferry sinks deeper into anguish: “No dream will ever be the same/everything around me calls your name.” This song has one of my favorite lyrics on the album: “I’m dealing with a feeling/that nobody knows/an unkindness of ravens/a murder of crows.” I knew that the proper term for a gathering of crows is a “murder” but I had no idea until I heard this song that the term for a gathering of ravens is an “unkindness.” Those very loaded terms just add to the unease of the song.

“A Special Kind of Guy”: Ferry is once again lovelorn, as he wishes that he could have the love of the girl in this song. Ferry sings that she needs “A special kind of guy/would take you by the hand/for all the world to see/wish it could be me.” This song is a good showcase for Ferry’s piano and keyboard work. It’s a beautiful song, melancholy, elegant, and yearning. 

“Avonmore”: This is one of my favorite songs on the album. There’s an intensity to the rhythm of the song that I really like, and that reminds me a little bit of the Roxy Music song “Both Ends Burning.” Once again, Ferry plays the yearning romantic, as he sings on this chorus: “I want a love that’s never ending/through all the thunder and the rain/but there’s no sense in pretending/I know I’ll never fall in love again.” Features a lovely saxophone solo from Richard White. 

“Lost”: A slow ballad that features Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits on guitar. Another romantic song for late at night.

“One Night Stand”: A funky song about the possibility of finding love with that stranger on the dance floor. Like “Midnight Train,” this song also features 9 guitarists, but again it doesn’t feel like too much. Ferry sings, “In the mood and in the dark/can you mend that broken heart?” We don’t know what the answer will be, but I’m guessing from the melancholy nature of this album it’s probably no. 

“Send in the Clowns”: Bryan Ferry singing Stephen Sondheim? Sure, why not. Ferry has always had success with unlikely cover versions, from the very beginning of his solo career. This is a lovely version of this standard from “A Little Night Music.” Ferry’s voice adds the necessary pathos, but he keeps it from going over the top. Nice trumpet solo from Enrico Tomasso. 

“Johnny and Mary”: Ferry’s cover of Robert Palmer’s 1980 hit single jettisons the nervous, New Wave energy of the original, drastically slows it down, and strips the song down to its basics. It’s brilliant and beautiful, and it starts with just a murmuring synth line and finger snaps. This version was originally recorded for Norwegian DJ Todd Terje's album “It’s Album Time,” released in April, 2014. I really love Robert Palmer’s version of “Johnny and Mary,” so I was excited to hear what Bryan Ferry would do with it. I love the lyrics to this song, as Palmer paints a vivid picture of this couple: “Johnny’s always running around/trying to find certainty/he needs all the world to confirm/that he ain’t lonely/Mary counts the walls/knows he tires easily.” Ferry’s version plays up the paranoia in the song, inherent in lyrics like “Scared that he’ll be caught/without a second thought.” “Johnny and Mary” moves at a languid pace, stretching out over nearly seven minutes, and I find it mesmerizing. A great ending to a marvelous album. 

My three favorite songs from “Avonmore” are “Midnight Train,” “Avonmore,” and “Johnny and Mary.” If you like Bryan Ferry or Roxy Music, go out and get “Avonmore,” pour yourself a drink, listen to it late at night and let the music wash over you.

Album Review: Robyn Hitchcock, "The Man Upstairs" (2014)

Robyn Hitchcock, "The Man Upstairs," 2014. Cover painting by Gillian Welch.

The one and only Robyn Hitchcock.

Robyn Hitchcock’s recently released 2014 album, “The Man Upstairs,” is a unique album for him, as it mixes 5 cover songs with 5 Hitchcock originals. This is quite a departure, as cover songs on Robyn Hitchcock albums are few and far between. Hitchcock sometimes mixes in cover songs during his concerts, and his only album of all covers is a 2-disc live album of Bob Dylan songs released in 2002 entitled “Robyn Sings.” For another songwriter, the appearance of a half covers/half originals album might be a signal that their creative muse is waning. However, since Robyn Hitchcock’s fecund mind keeps churning out roughly an album a year, I’m not worried that he has writer’s block. 

“The Man Upstairs” holds together very well, and it feels like a very cohesive album. Much of the credit for this can go to producer Joe Boyd, who produced Nick Drake’s first two albums, among many others. “The Man Upstairs” is a subtle, intimate album. The first two times I listened to the album I was in my car, and while I liked certain songs, others didn’t do much for me. I wasn’t quite sure if I liked the album as a whole. But then I listened to it on headphones, and it changed the way I heard the whole album. I could now hear all of the sonic details that Hitchcock and Boyd have put on the album, and I like it a great deal more. 

The instrumentation on “The Man Upstairs” is quite sparse, as it features Robyn on guitars, the marvelous Jenny Adejayan on cello, Charlie Francis on piano, and Norwegian singer-songwriter Anne Lise Frokedal, from the band I Was a King, on harmony vocals. Jenny Adejayan has played on the last couple of Robyn’s albums, and her cello playing brings a different sonic texture to Hitchcock’s songs that greatly enhances them. Anne Lise Frokedal’s lovely harmony vocals also bring a different feel to Hitchcock’s music, and their voices blend very well together. 

Here are the songs on “The Man Upstairs” and brief comments on them:

 “The Ghost in You”-A Psychedelic Furs cover. It’s a good, catchy opener with great cello playing.

“San Francisco Patrol”-An original. It’s quite pretty, with the refrain, “Can’t take my eyes off of you.” (It’s hard not to think of Frankie Valli when you hear that phrase.) No surrealism in this one. I wonder if there might be a veiled reference to Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry in this song, as Robyn sings, “Who are we staking out?” Anything that references San Francisco and the police makes me think of Dirty Harry, and Hitchcock has written songs about the Dirty Harry movies before. His terrific 2006 song “(A Man’s Gotta Know His Limitations) Briggs,” is inspired by the Dirty Harry movie “Magnum Force.” 

 “To Turn You On”-Roxy Music cover. It’s fun to hear a Roxy Music song with Bryan Ferry’s seductive croon replaced by Robyn’s distinctive voice. Whereas Ferry’s original sounds like the smooth pick-up line of a confident lover-man, Robyn sounds like an earnest suitor, offering a sincere token of his love. I’m a big Roxy Music fan, and this was one of the highlights of the album for me. Robyn is obviously a Roxy Music aficionado, as he previously covered “More Than This” on the “Madonna of the Wasps” CD-single. Back in the days when CD-singles existed. 

“Trouble in Your Blood”-A brooding original, with something of a droning feel to it. Excellent backing vocals.

“Somebody to Break Your Heart”-A very catchy bluesy original. The lyrics mention skeletons twice. Good harmonica blowing by Robyn. One of my favorites on the album. 

“Don’t Look Down”-Grant-Lee Phillips cover. This song doesn’t do much for me. It’s too slow and long, and it’s not sequenced in a good place on the album, as it’s in between two faster, catchier songs.

“Ferries”-cover of Norwegian band I Was a King. Anne Lise Frokedal co-wrote the song, and she adds terrific backing vocals here. The song appears on I Was a King’s 2012 album, “You Love It Here,” which was co-produced by Robyn. It’s an upbeat, poppy song that celebrates a mode of transportation-right up Robyn’s alley. 

“Comme Tojours”-original. An earlier version of this song was released in 2010 or 2011 as a Phantom 45 on Robyn’s website. The title is French for “as usual, as ever.” The cello playing is exquisite, and goes perfectly with the song. Robyn’s note about this song on his website says, “Originally conceived for Bryan Ferry as Humphrey Bogart, a man alone consoling himself with a cigarette.” The version on “The Man Upstairs” is not very different from the original one, but the addition of Anne Lise on harmony vocals is most welcome. 

“The Crystal Ship”-The Doors cover. It’s really cool to hear Robyn sing The Doors, and “The Crystal Ship” fits Robyn’s style very well. As usual, the cello playing is great and adds a different flavor. One of my favorites on the album.

“Recalling the Truth”-original. It’s a nice song that isn’t terribly exciting. Robyn’s original songs on this album have more straightforward lyrics. There’s less surrealism than usual. 

“The Man Upstairs” is an excellent album, autumnal in feel and spirit. I enjoyed the different instrumental approaches on this album, and the stirring way that Jenny Adejayan’s cello and Anne Lise Frokedal’s harmony vocals interacted with Robyn’s voice. If you’re a fan of Robyn’s, give “The Man Upstairs” a listen. Just don’t forget to bring your headphones.