1.Blogging/2. Shifting/3. Burning Bridges/4. In Manchester/5. High/6. Sleep-Walking/7. Joust&Jostle/8.Swallow/9. Split Your Ends/ 10. Octopus/ 11.Harpooned

Release Date: 13 April 2015, Pinkflag

COVEREXACTYX;1423474505072400;Wire1423474505072400.jpg;220;220

Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Matthew Simms and Robert Grey a.k.a Wire is a band with a long and rich history in music going back to 1977 when the first studio album ‘Pink Flag’ was released with the memorable pink flag on the sleeve. Wire is a band in whose early music one could find elements of indie rock, post punk, minimal synth, new wave and electro clash genres that emerged later in music history. Even with ‘Pink Flag’ the band surpassed the limits of punk music from which it had emerged. Wire have been inventive on what concerns the arrangement and the instruments that make up their sound. In each album, different instruments, different arrangements and various vocal styles have been combined. No album has been identical to the previous ones since 1977 and the band has even used uncommon instruments such as cor anglais (i.e. a type of English horn) in their albums.

Wire have proven throughout their career that they are very dexterous in making space in their compositions so that for different instruments and sounds can be included. Having a strong feeling and intention about the sound and the atmosphere that they want to create in each album Wire always navigate easily within many different genres. Their previous album took us back to the days of154′ and ‘Eyes And Witness’ as the band reworked abandoned material from the 80s written for live shows. The sound had punk and new wave influences but there were also moments where the guitar playing became ‘harsh’ and the music ‘heavy’, alluding to rock and hard rock. Experimentation was manifested through the addition of bottles and radiators as percussion, while piano, mandolin, melotron and even handclaps were added in strategic moments within some songs. Guitars and synthesizers bound all those together thus creating a very rich sound.

Blogging like Jesus
Tweet like a Pope
Site traffic heavy
I’m YouTubing hope…
 (lyrics: ‘Blogging‘)

Wire– the album

Following  ‘Change Becomes Us‘, ‘Wire’ the 13th album of the band is quite different from the previous one first of all because part of it has been already presented to the audience before it was recorded at the studio, during a tour. Matthew Simms who has been with Wire since 2012 was involved in formulating the material for this album from the initial stage ( “With Matt there was a really new dynamic that had appeared in the group’s sound and that was something we wanted to capture, utilise and be creative with…” (Graham Lewis, extract from an interview)). In addition Colin Newman presented some of the songs to the rest of the band for the first time, just prior to the recording. His aim was to receive a more spontaneous reaction to these songs from the rest of the band. This is an album that feels and sounds more indie rock and pop. The lyrics remain caustic (e.g. ‘High‘, ‘Swallow‘)  and critical towards the cultural changes that the new internet trends and the gigantic online retail market have brought about (e.g. ‘ Blogging‘) but there are also songs that seem to concern personal matters (e.g. ‘Shifting‘, ‘Burning Bridges‘).  The punk rhythms are not explored as much during the 11 tracks but the music remains uniquely atmospheric and at times eerie (i.e. ‘Sleep-walking’) and reaches a climax at the end of the album with ‘Octopus’ and ‘Harpooned’. I liked the space that has been given for the synth to be heard in the instrumental parts of ‘Joust &Jostle’. This space that is given in different instruments, is valuable for the creation of a unique atmosphere in the music of Wire throughout the years and is also apparent in this release. ‘In Manchester’ is perhaps the most melodic track of the album and even though the title suggests a preoccupation with the city of Manchester, as the band states, the song has nothing to do with this city. The simple melody of the introduction appears again within the song in 1:29 and this gives to this song its haunting, almost dystopian feel. This album gained my interest gradually and at the end of the first listening I had already kept in my mind half of its songs.

…Voting by proxy
Buying online
Selling on eBay
All that is mine
 BlackBerry’s growing
                                      New Apple’s divine … (lyrics: “Blogging”)

Sleep- walking’ is a very interesting, ‘heavy’ atmospheric song based on a slow rhythmic theme in low notes. For 7:31 this rhythm is enriched with higher notes and quicker rhythms before being enriched discreetly and almost imperceptibly with other sounds. The mysterious atmosphere that is created has a gradual, but powerful effect. At the end of the song I found myself in a completely different state of mind than at the beginning. It was as if Wire have created a sonic wall with a lot of meanings against which the second half of the album should be heard.In the music of Wire, I’ve always recognised elements that later seemed to appear in bands that started making music after Wire. It’s no secret that a lot of bands have stated that Wire were an important influence. ‘Sleep-walking’ brought to mind elements that Swans have explored throughout their career, just as in the past ‘5/10’ reminded me of the much later song ‘Installation No1’ by Einstuerzende Neubauten.The guitars are the backbone of this album but Wire never rely on one rhythm or one instrument. If you listen carefully you will be able to distinguish the little sounds and instruments that appear in the songs just as it happens in 1:01- 1:09 and in 1:33 in ‘Joust& Jostle’ and in 1:48-2:41 in ‘Swallow’. This is what makes me love this album; The more times I listen to it the more I realize that this album is more than just the sum of its parts!

We’re at a tipping point
The arguments may lead to less cohesion
A mere collection of parts…“(lyrics: ‘Sleep-walking’)

After almost 30’ the album approaches its end and its probably most interesting and atmospheric part. In ‘Octopus’ and ‘Harpooned’ the sound becomes noisier, quicker and the guitar playing ‘harsher’ from the first second of ‘Octopus’ until the last note of ‘Harpooned’. The result is a richly textured sound that even though it is very interesting on its own it just provides the background for all the experimentation that is happening in the foreground, in the perceptible part of these two songs. The vocals narrate a different story from the guitars and even the duration of the gaps between the words of the lyrics change within the song. After 5’ the duration of some letters is significantly longer, the singing style changes character significantly so an atmospheric sonic maze is created. As the vocals are heard against this noisy background they become almost hypnotizing. The transition and the alteration of style at the second part of this song feels like a gradual pull from the conscious to the subconscious. Following the trail that was drawn by ‘Sleep-Walking’, the last song of this album, for its duration of 8′ 24″,  will definitely lead you deep inside your subconscious mind if you let the notes of the guitar and the words of the lyrics draw you away. The experience is delightful!

…Reality bends…I’m worried, I’m worried, I’m frightened as hell
Walls closing in, I’m feeling unwell!” (lyrics: ‘Harpooned’)

Wire will be launched as the fourth event in the band’s DRILL series entitled ‘DRILL : LEXINGTON’  from 14 to 18 April 2015 at the Lexington in London with Wire headlining. A different “curated” support will be the opening act each night and the band will do a UK tour after the 18th April 2015. You can book your tickets for any of these live appearances by following this link: http://www.pinkflag.com/live.php and you can buy the album by following this link: https://pinkflag.greedbag.com/buy/wire-10/

8.5/10

 Blaue Rosen box

Spread the word by sharing this