CD REVIEW: BRYAN FERRY – Avonmore

Shane | 29 January 2015 | Reply

CD REVIEW: BRYAN FERRY – Avonmore
Cooking Vinyl Australia
21 November, 2014
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

They don’t make records like this much any more: in an industry where budgets have gone from hundreds of thousands of dollars, to just hundreds, this is an album out of time. Immaculately crafted and layered without a note out of place and sounding like these songs were given all the time they needed to evolve into the ethereal completed works of art that they are, Avonmore is as dapper and smooth as its creator.

With a guest list including Johnny Marr, Nile Rodgers, Flea, Ronnie Spector, Maceo Parker and Mark Knopfler, Ferry has constructed a beautiful collection of songs in the fine tradition of his suave Roxy Music and solo works.

Opening track and first single Loop De Li sets the tone: a dreamy soundscape that’s part Bowie, part Bush, all Ferry.

The deeply thoughtful Soldier Of Fortune, A Special Kind Of Guy, One Night Stand and the darkly brooding title track all beguile with their enthralling, pulsating rhythms and layered instrumentation.

Avonmore closes with two covers: a beautifully lush take on Sondheim’s Send In The Clowns, full of regret and longing; and Robert Palmer’s Johnny & Mary. Here Ferry’s hushed near-whisper over waves of electronic pulses transform the formerly upbeat song into a pure melancholy as he wistfully muses on lost love.

Avonmore is a special album – one to sit and listen to from start to finish, one without an obvious smash hit single, and one which reminds us that music can be crafted, built up rather than just captured in a jam session. As such it may not get much traction with the ‘in crowd’ – but the smart money should be on this to remain a favourite for years to come where hipper albums are rapidly forgotten.