Eno has been around a while, first as a keyboardist in Roxy Music in the early '70s, then a solo career and great success as a producer. I don't know how many records he's participated on over the years in some form, but they are many. Somewhat surprising then that he this year creates one of the best and most interesting albums he's made during his career. According to a review I read, his 25th solo album.
The Ship has a connection with Sweden as the music began as a 3D sound installation in Stockholm. When Eno discovered that age had made his voice deeper, and that he therefore could sing deeper tones, The Ship turned into a stereo album, where Eno uses his "new", deeper voice in parts of the singing. The album consists of two songs, the title track, which clocks in at just over 21 minutes and the suite Fickle Sun, which consists of three parts, of which the first is just over 18 minutes, and the two remaining approximately three and five minutes.
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| Eno's installation The Ship in Switzerland |
The title song has the Titanic as its theme, but it's not a dramatic tragedy that's being played, rather the song creates a picture of a ship that calmly flows through a dark fog on calm water. Deep synthesizers and various sound effects place the listener in a quiet, dark world. After several minutes, Eno starts singing, which almost resembles monks chanting. It's peaceful and beautiful. The song continues in a rather structureless shape, there is no verse-verse-chorus structure, but the song absolutely creates a comprehensive whole. During the second half of the song, Enos deep chanting is replaced by other forms of voices, both his own and others, which continue to create a dark, but pleasant atmosphere. The song The Ship is an impressive creation, despite a low tempo and not really a great variety, every minute is interesting and enjoyable.
The first part of Fickle Sun continues in one way within the same frame, it's Eno's voice together with the soundscape he creates with his musical instruments. The theme is World War I, and the song is a bit more dramatic, but just as good. Fickle Sun offers a bit more variety, where the song has somewhat more clearly a couple of different parts. Eno doesn't use the same deep voice, but more the one heard on earlier albums. Also this song lacks the verse-verse-chorus structure, instead it is a soundscape being created. I experience the atmosphere as fairly calm and pleasant, although there is a relatively large difference from the tranquility on The Ship, as there is more dissonance, and sometimes it feels like Eno paints a picture of one of the circles in Dante's inferno in Fickle Sun (I).
In the second part of Fickle Sun, you'll get a brittle piano playing in a classical Eno ambient manner, and Peter Serafinowicz reciting a text to it. The more minimalist sound is in contrast to the first part of the song. This part continues into the third and final part of the song, which is a cover of the Velvet Underground's I'm Set Free, a beautiful pop song in Eno's hands. The closure is very different from the rest of the album, but still somehow feels very right.
I guess this would be an ambient album, although it's not easy to define the music. Actually, I see it as a piece of art, which should be more experienced than defined. It's impressive that Eno manages to create something completely different from what he has previously done (at least of what I've heard with him), while at the same time it feels so naturally that it was he who made this album. He manages to combine his singing with his creation of soundscapes, so it actually is among the best he's ever done.
Tracklist
Side A
1. The Ship (Part 1) 13:45
Side B
1. The Ship (Part 2) 8:07
Side C
1. Fickle Sun (I) 18:03
Side D
1, Fickle Sun (II) 2:50
2. Fickle Sun (III) I'm Set Free 5:18
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