Released
1997
Label
Mute
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Contact
P.O. Box 371
Horsham
RH13 7YY
UK
Visit
Last Edit/Update
24 June, 1998
Recoil
UNSOUND METHODS
Track Listing
1. Incubus
2. Drifting
3. Luscious Apparatus
4. Stalker
5. Red River Cargo
6. Control Freak
7. Missing Piece
8. Last Breath
9. Shunt
Alan Wilder's third full-length release under the banner of Recoil
(and his first since leaving Depeche Mode in 1995) is his most complex,
and musically versatile, to date. On Unsound Methods, Wilder has not only
incorporated elements of musical genres such as jazz, blues, soul and trip-hop, he has
also drawn extensively on the aural world of film. It is a very dark album that explores
the shadow sides of human nature, as manifested in sexual obsession and abuse, racism,
schizophrenia and violence. In the vein of the previous Recoil album -- Bloodline,
Wilder has again brought in a number of different vocalists to provide his
compositions with lyrics and song. The diverse roster this time includes Douglas
McCarthy (of Nitzer Ebb), Hildia Campbell, Siobhan
Lynch, Maggie Estep, Hepzibah Sessa, as well as Alan Wilder himself
as backing vocalist on a pair of the songs.
The tone for the entire album is
set at the very outset, with the foreboding atmospheres and strange treated voices that
open "Incubus." A strong beat fires up, and supports Douglas McCarthy's
initially spoken vocals, which inventively borrow from the monologue at the beginning of Francis
Ford Coppola's film Apocalypse Now. Like some Greek chorus, the voices of Hepzibah
Sessa and Hildia Campbell are heard whispering: "I have never seen a
man so broken up..." The intensity of the first half of the song is released in a
musical explosion of howling guitar samples, soaring synths, and power percussions, while McCarthy
erupts into a manic chorus, yelling: "I am alive" and "I am your
shadow." On "Incubus," evil is born, and the rest of Unsound Methods
becomes a journey into the heart of darkness.
Snippets of everything from opera
to film soundtrack music have been sampled and weaved into the colorful sound tapestry of
"Drifting." Heavy break beats and an occasional scratch constitute the
rhythm track, and Siobhan Lynch deliver the vocals in a voice that feels like the
caress of a velvet glove. The next song "Luscious Apparatus," features a great
spoken word performance by Maggie Estep. The story told concerns a sexual fantasy
that becomes real, and then turns into a nightmare. The musical accompaniment courses
alongside Estep's words, accentuating the shifting emotions of the story, moving
with mercurial ease from strolling guitar chords and subdued beats, to passages of
shimmering synths, to moments of dynamic drums and screaming guitars.
Treated cello chords establish an
appropriately threatening atmosphere for Douglas McCarthy's pathological whispers
on "Stalker." The vocals play like the internal monologue of a wronged and
obsessed man, with a great chorus that recalls Depeche Mode, and sums up McCarthy's
feelings: "You were nothing without me." The song nicely follows a classic
dramatic curve, and the inclusion of hovering female chorals and a woman's distressed
phone call to the police, heightens the sensation of listening to the soundtrack of an
imaginary film.
"Red River Cargo"
likewise has the sequential structure of a movie score in compressed form. Brief samples
from film soundtracks have been seamlessly incorporated into the piece, along with a
number of stock media recordings from the time of the American Civil Rights struggles. The
static crackling as of an old vinyl record underscores the entire piece, further evoking
the 50s period that the samples suggest, and Hildia Campbell aspires to with her
bluesy vocal performance.
The narratively driven vocals of Maggie
Estep return on "Control Freak," in another twisted story about sexual
longings. However, aside from the compelling sound of Oliver Kraus' cello, and
some strong synth presences in the beginning, the accompaniment for this song falls short
of the richness displayed on most of the other tracks. The structure and arrangement of
"Missing Piece" is likewise less challenging, although the superb, layered
violin performance by Hepzibah Sessa in the latter half of the song, and the
appearance of Wilder himself performing backing vocals, add a lot to the appeal
of this song.
The musical unpredictability and
inventiveness is back on "Last Breath." As on "Red River Cargo," a
subdued layer of static is used at times to underscore Hildia Campbell's words,
which are further complemented by Sessa's soft-spoken supporting vocals. Up until
the last third of the song, the mood and quality of the instrumentation relies strongly on
strings, and is rather mellow and serene, as befits Campbell's performance; then
for the final passage of the song, the percussions become more dominant, while soaring
synth themes and treated guitar samples bring "Last Breath" to a surprisingly
intense and expansive close.
With the final selection on Unsound
Methods, Wilder seems to be tipping his hat to all his longstanding and
faithful followers. "Shunt" looks back on the purer electronic compositions of Bloodline,
Hydrology and Depeche Mode. Speeding synth pulses, and the
rhythmic sound of trains travelling down endless railroad tracks, serve as the foundation
for this stormy arrangement of echoing computer effects and grandiose thematic structures.
Sessa and Wilder are heard whispering and breathing beneath the
saturated sonic carpet, but only at the end do they become clearly audible, as they take
turns repeating: "There's blood on the line" -- thereby bringing Unsound
Methods back full circle to the previous Recoil album.
