Introspective, a Bit Sad, but Brilliant Nonetheless
10/31/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Lloyd's latest recording does take a bit of time to grow on you, but this is a quietly intense work of genius, a lower key but fully realized work that captures the spirit of one of our most talented yet still somewhat under-the radar artists. Lloyd's typical irony is a bit tinged with a sadder edge this time out, and the record does reflect a bit of solitude--I understand this was recorded entirely on Lloyd's Mac--but this is an absolutely worthwhile purchase from a highly talented, deserving artist whose work should be better recognized on this side of the Atlantic.
For those who don't know Lloyd's work, he's often been described as a mix of Bob Dylan and Bryan Ferry. For those of us that know his catalog, this recording may tend a bit more towards the Dylan side; it is nonetheless a work of a highly talented, skilled songwriter, and a very satisfying, if mellower recording. I've never lost interest in his work, and if this CD is any sign of the future, I don't imagine I will."
Let it grow on you
Matthew Irvine | Chicago, USA | 09/03/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"To all those who gave this a mediocre to poor review... spend some more time with this album. I admit I was a little unimpressed at first but one day driving home on a cold and rainy Chicago afternoon I decided to give it another try. The album hasn't left my CD player since. The album is one of Llyod's most beautiful and heartfelt. The only problem with it is that it is 39 minutes long. Once the thing has a hold on you... you never want it to end."
Quietly Fraught
WrtnWrd | Northridge, CA USA | 10/19/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Lloyd Cole has always seemed the perennial undergraduate. His work, solo and with the Commotions, is always finely detailed, studied. A song like the classic "Rattlesnakes" hooks its chamber pop arrangement around the neurotic travels of Jodie, and Cole's salient details breathe life into his characters (even when the character is Lloyd Cole). He doesn't overplay her hysteria; just observes. His music has always been a sturdy version of the R.E.M. blueprint: chiming guitars, straightforward drums, strings when necessary. On his latest release, the import-only Music in a Foreign Language, Cole unplugs with a Robyn Hitchcockian musical sparseness on a set of songs that speak to a messy divorce with unnerving clarity. There's not a whiff of creative writing in these tracks. "You say, `Give it to me straight'", he confronts his soon-to-be ex. "I already did." It's a quietly fraught record with Cole's velvet whisper of a voice detailing the end of love. "Didn't I answer `yes, I do?'" he comforts a skeptical wife. "Well, today I'm not so sure.""
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1