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No-Man - Returning Jesus

Artist:	No-Man
Title:	Returning Jesus
Label:	Third Stone stone 038CD
Length(s):	54 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2001
Month of review:	[04/2001]

Line up

Steven Wilson - instruments
Tim Bowness - vocals
with
Colin Edwin - bass, double bass
Steve Jansen - drums
Ian Carr - trumpet
Ben Christophers - acoustic guitar
Ian Dixon - trumpet and flugelhorn
Rick Edwards - percussion
David Kosten - synthesizer and cymbal
Theo Travis - saxophone and flute

Tracks

2)	No Defence	5.20
3)	Close Your Eyes	8.25
5)	Outside The Machine	5.46
6)	Returning Jesus	5.19
7)	Slow It All Down	3.42
8)	Lighthouse	8.12

Summary

I had some of their earlier albums, but they never struck a chord. After years of studio album silence, Porcupiner Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness (also quite busy with his side projects) return with an album of progressive pop.

The music

Only Rain opens with repetive string sounds, gaining volume gradually. The soft tortured sounding, almost spoken vocals of Tim Bowness accompany the repetitive music. The music has a classical tinge, the vocals have something of The Blue Nile and the trumpet is in Isham/Jon Hassell style. A somber track, atmospheric, but still with a certain lightness to it.

The lightness prevails also on No Defence, which is a slow blues. The music continues to be a somewhat repetitive, the rhythm section is naked sounding, Bowness has more of vocal melody to work with here. Melancholic stuff. The trumpet gives the music a jazzy feel at the end.

Close Your Eyes has lots of subdued percussion in it, the vocal part is dreamlike and repetitive. In the middle of the track, the guitar sound is blistering. The trumpet comes back into twirly play towards the end, while the organ is almost subliminal.

Carolina Skeletons opens with moody piano, some scratching like sound and melodic vocals. The song almost has no development during its five minutes, but still it can capture my attention the whole period.

Outside The Machine has modern rhythms, but continues the softly moody and melancholy that this album breathes and breeds. The song has a certain jazzy and overall loose feel. The guitar in this track has a Spanish ring to it, the lyrics speak of a longing, of belonging.

The bleeping opening Returning Jesus soon gives way to the sparse lyrics of the song. The song evolves like a flower in the morning, opening its petals, showing its internals. The song features something like hammered harpsichord and is certainly not the most accessible of the tracks present here.

The instrumental of the album is up next. Swirling trumpets, a brimming organ and repetitive sampled sound and free percussion make for an ethereal excursion into sound. Quite a bit of tenseness in here as well, almost film music.

For some reason the opening of this track reminds me of Tanita Tikaram. Probably because of the vocals and vocal melody of the verses. The chorus is more involved and features modified vocals. Halfway Steve Jansen is allowed some leeway on the drums and the song moves into another phase. The organ and keyboars now dominate the sound spectrum.

The song I liked most on this album is All That You Are. Not just because there's hope in this track, but also because of the prominence of melody.

Conclusion

Well, this is certainly not progressive, but seeing that many progressive rock lovers are into Porcupine Tree (I have heard PT thinks they are not progressive, and certainly lately they have a point there), it can not be denied that a large part of the bands audience can be found among progressive rock lovers. Not surprising then, that some time is spent here on the melancholy pop sound of Wilson and Tim Bowness. Sparse arrangements, modern rhythms, moody lyrics, subtle instrumentation and nice atmospherics make this an album which is comparable to, but much more low key than Porcupine Tree and King Black Acid. The music is almost always restrained, but also manages to evoke an atmosphere that is intensely light and sharp. Fans of the subdued side of Talk Talk, of Jon Hassell, of Portishead and of David Sylvian might have a good one here. An understatement of an album.