This is the second album of the collaboration between Steven Wilson and Israeli alt rocker, Aviv Geffen. This is my favourite of all the Blackfield albums, as this and the previous album both saw equal contributions from both. The albums after this, Wilson took more of a backseat and were basically Aviv albums. SW writes three of the songs and takes lead vocal on six. It’s very hard to pigeonhole this project as the songs that SW sings would not be out of place on any of his solo offerings. Avis’s songs have that definite edgy vibe, and he just takes the lead on one song , Miss U, and three of them they both sing together.
One of the more interesting pieces here is the song, Christenings, which was written for the Porcupine Tree album, Deadwing, in fact, Gavin and Richard both appear here. The whole album does feel like a laid back Porcupine Tree album, or songs that were left over from his solo stuff, as SW’s voice is so distinctive. That may be a reason why he took more of a back seat after this album.
Side 2 opener, Epidemic, is the only song that I would call a Blackfield tune, as it’s the only song that feels as though it has its own DNA. I suppose you can call this a pop album, it’s just minus the big chorus and sing along sections. In my opinion this is the weakest of Wilson’s projects, and I would not be surprised if he called it a day with this at some point. It looks as though I am being negative here, and I’m not, it’s just that when you have such amazing and outstanding pieces as SW does, something as mellow as this is just tends to get lost. It’s still a nice album to chill to.
7.5/10 from the Grooveman.
