Title: Red Sky Morning Label: Love & Mercy/Level Two/ Inertia File Under: Fractured and fragile scenes from a cliff RIYL: Black Heart Procession, Smog Anyone who starts their album off with the first few chords from a verse of "Macarthur Park" wins instant points with me, but don't let that dissuade you, as "Return the Swimmers", the opener from Adam Cole's debut*, turns into a subtle blend of strummed guitars, softly-stroked percussion and the unique voice of Cole at the forefront, restrained yet full of some intangible distress. Happy times are not here again, even if the next track does begin with a tambourine rattlesnake shake. Much like Beck's Seachanges, Cole's album appears as a sonic exploration with the voice at the forefront. In this case, Cole's range takes him into a place where Billy Corgan lies strung out on tranquilisers, like the slower moments of Pisces Iscariot, but instead of going for full-tilt bombast, Cole has surrounded himself with fellow musicians on the lap steel, toy piano, piano accordian, double bass and mandolin, to name a few. Production is top notch and a listen on headphones at some disgusting morning hour quickly reveals the obvious work gone into this. If there are criticisms to be made, it's to do with the track order, and more specifically the tempo variation. For a work where each track is softly constructed, there's a tendency for each individual piece to dangerously lose itself in the overall feel. Cole's deliberate tentative and breathy vocal style can also add to this effect. However it's tracks like "the trouble on her shoulders" that play enough within their own time and structure to stand out and correctly refocus the listener, not to mention the piano accordian riffs reminiscent of a Jacques Brel brothel scene. With time I'm sure Cole's song construction and singing style will open up to further experimentation, and irrespective of that, Red Sky Morning is an audacious and haunting debut* from an impressive artist in the making. * - After writing this review, I became aware that Red Sky Morning was not Cole's debut, and that Cole has an extensive musical past. Nevertheless, I have confidence in the sentiments expressed here and hope the review reader will take this into account when considering this release.
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