| Taking almost seven years in between albums, Matt Johnson and the latest
incarnation of The The release NakedSelf, a recording that scales to near
rock-operatic proportions. NakedSelf is an album in its purest sense;
its sum is greater than its parts, with no track standing alone as a clear
single. And the parts? Concept, acid rock, noise, experimentation--the
core of the record builds from a largeness of sound where artificial studio
trickery is sidestepped in favor of diverse instrumentation. The CD's
raw, powerful energy is funneled through acidic, fuzzed-out guitars and
metal-head bass, fluctuating from a drone into a pulsating rhythm or imploding
into an emotive acoustic-guitar-and-barstool love song. Johnson's vocals
match the music's range. He delivers a Robert Plantlike orgasmic wail
as impressively as he croons like an earnest folk-rocker. But as far as
this album reaches, it's never directionless, and it spares itself from
alienating a pop-minded audience. In his 20-year career leading up to
this CD, Johnson has respectably put out everything from Hank Williams
covers to infectious '80s power pop. His scope in talent is equal to defiance
of categorization. Further, this offering, a culmination of all his musical
interests, makes evident that the wait for his albums is proportionate
to the rewards reaped from them. |
