In which Mr. Dulli returns with a seriously heavy cast of collaborators. Let’s face it, there aren’t many people out there who can pick up the phone and cajole the likes of Mark Lanegan, Joseph Arthur and Jeff Klein along to guest on their forthcoming sessions, but to our Greg it’s apparently as simple as falling off a log.
Typically, the results are tantalisingly great as well. Dulli’s Twilight Singers have learnt to turn his ambitious, oblivion-bound plots into cinematically-derived aural gold of the highest calibre and once again here they are on smeltingly good form. The EP’S lead track is an ultra-eerie cover of Massive Attack’s Live With Me,’ featuring a suitably sepulchral vocal from Lanegan and sympathetic strings from Klein. The band rein in the tension to perfection, Dulli’s vocal slides in for the chorus and the end result takes us to Goosebumpsville in no uncertain terms.
Second track, ‘Sublime’, meanwhile, sports a fitting title. This time, it’s the talented young shaver known as Joseph Arthur (bass/ programming/ vocals) who’s the genius-guest-in-residence and this time round his soaring falsetto shadows Dulli’s come-to-bed lead vocal, moody trip-hop beats and the ‘Shaft’-esque guitars. It’s soulful, poised and just that shade too lustful for the good of it’s’ health. Very, very good indeed.
‘Flashback’ continues and is by some way the rockiest track here. Built around Scott Ford’s ominous bassline, it’s a potent swirl of emotions with Dulli, Lanegan and Arthur all contributing vocally. The remarkable thing is that the trio’s egos are all submerged for the sake of the song’s tremendous, resonant rock’n’roll, while the rare seam of form continues on through ‘They Ride’ where the searing guitars and descending chords hook you in the way Dulli’s old muckers The Afghan Whigs used to do. Brilliantly, a quick squint at the credits tells you the track was co-penned with ex-Whig lead guitarist Rick McCollum.
|
‘A Stitch In Time’ bottoms out with the one tune penned by Dulli alone, the prophetically-titled ‘The Lure Would Prove Too Much’. As ever, it finds our hero flirting manfully with grace and danger in roughly equal measures, and while the song itself is cushioned in a dreamy, semi-acoustic atmosphere, it finds Dulli swooning his way through lines like “and I can be broken in two just like you” with more than tangible intent. By the time it finally slides away on spectral pedal steel and subtle mellotron, you’re more than convinced that not only has Greg Dulli not lost his touch, but that he’s quite probably the possessor of the coolest address book in rock. Quite a guy indeed.
|
