Oblivion W/Bells (Dlx Ed) [Limited Edition]

 

 

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Cascades of glittering argeggios falling away into the depths and then... the beat comes in and we are off to oblivion with bells. Once Karl Hyde's instantly recognizable voice starts to sing, the adrenaline starts to pump. This is going to be one of those classic Underworld albums. You can feel it coming.

After "100 Days Off", this is a welcome reassurance that Underworld have not lost an iota of their talent or originality. That previous album, their first without Darren Emmerson, seemed to falter and never quite hit the usual mark, the only one in their catalogue that did so. Not that it was bad, per se, it just didn't have that special Underworld 'something'. I could never warm to it and feared that Emmerson's departure had taken something irreplacible from the group. Then "Oblivion with Bells" comes along and it's Underworld again, really delivering the goods as only they can.

With the first two tracks I am completely won over - "Crocodile" and "Beautiful Burnout". Both songs first lay out some really magnificent orchestration of synth beats and textures as rich, meaty and detailed as anything Rick Smith has ever done. Then Karl Hyde's voice comes in... In "Beautiful Burnout" his deep baritone and associative poetics sends up the old shiver and that full-on smile of recognition. Think the best days of "Dubnobass..." and "Second Toughest..." They are BACK, with a vengeance here.

Ah but it isn't all just recovering the old "thing". There is new stylistic ground here. The range of dynamics and hybrid pastiches makes "Oblivion" an extremely rich and complex album that testifies to the versatility and masterful skill of both Smith and Hyde. Rich, hefty beats and atmospheric, artistic subtleties, there's a very broad range of feeling and textures on this one.

Rick Smith is at his best here, a "master painter" with an overabundance of skill and technique. More importantly, his technique never takes away from the musicality of the songs. As a melodist, he can still thrill you to excitement and in turn move you to tears ( ie. "To Heal", which was used nicely toward the end of the movie "Sunshine"). His talent as an electronic musician is equalled, probably, only by Alex Paterson of The Orb, along with Stevel Hillage and Miquette Giraudy of System 7.

Karl Hyde's voice is one of the greatest in the business, idiosynchratically and gloriously British, warm and wood-toned. His lyrics are as brilliantly, laterally associated as ever, often taking one into countless, apparently random confluences. His word stylings, reflected nicely in Underworld's cover art where the shapes and "negative" spaces around the words are just as important to meaning as any literal translation is, are as perfectly executed here as anywhere. As a sonic source in itself, Hyde's voice, filtered, vocodered, muffled or creatively mixed, adds an important even indispensible musical element to the total Underworld sound.

There are some really great "finds" in "Oblivion". "Boy Boy Boy" is driven by Larry Mullen Jr's real drum kit bedrock beat. As solid a rocker as anything. "Glam Bucket" and "Cuddle Bunny vs. the Celtic Villages' " instrumental prowess are testimony to Smith's orchestrational abilities. "Faxed Invitation" has Hyde adding a chanted poetic rap over restrained synth patterns, much like what was heard on "Beacoup Fish". "Good Morning, Cockerel" finds the band in a somewhat pastoral and unmechanized flavour, all simple untreated voice and acoustic piano. "Best Mamgu, Ever" completes the album in classic UW style, reminding one of previous closers like "Stagger" and "m.e."

"Oblivion with Bells" is Underworld at a Zenith here. This edition is the one to get - with the addition of a DVD which includes some really great surprises for the die-hard UW fan and some great Tomato digital art.

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