Author Topic: Reviews for Surrounded  (Read 2635 times)

MaoLee

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Reviews for Surrounded
« on: May 19, 2021, 06:41:56 PM »

https://www.plattentests.de/rezi.php?show=17722

"A true storyteller

The British band New Model Army has displayed remarkable productivity in recent years. Album followed album, flanked by extensive and still excellently attended concert tours. Singer and band founder Justin Sullivan has now hit the pause button: In what is now the fifth decade of the band's history, he is treating himself to only his second trip into the world of solo releases. A full 18 years after "Navigating by the stars" follows "Surrounded", a 16-song journey through the soul world of a passionate musician.

It quickly becomes clear that the Englishman is a real storyteller. This is sometimes lost in the consideration of his regular band, which has produced one or the other dance floor filler, but has always been explicitly political and socially critical. On "Surrounded," the quieter tones tend to dominate, with Sullivan often looking inside himself without neglecting the broader perspective on the world. "I'm still up on my mountain unwilling to come down," he sings right at the start of "Dirge," which he begins humming. From this mountain, Sullivan looks down on himself and on the world, which at the time of the album's creation was at a standstill never before experienced. Sullivan had one thing above all else during this phase: time. He used it well. To track down incidents, such as in "Amundsen," which centers on a historical journey. Or to process personal encounters, which he translated into a song like "Clean horizon" immediately after a conversation.

For his second solo album, Justin Sullivan has once again called in support and invited musician friends to enrich the songs. His choice fell not only on his current band colleagues from New Model Army, but also on the bassist John Thorne, who was active among others for Lamb and gives a track like "Sao Paulo" a very special touch. But of course the focus is on Sullivan himself, who once again proves to be an excellent songwriter on "Surrounded" and adds a very good second work to his discography after a rather average solo debut. His band New Model Army may often also embody raw energy, left to his own devices Sullivan prepares the big stage for the quiet moments. An album as if from one cast, which knows no boredom despite the length."

Guillaume

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2021, 07:38:44 PM »
a rather average solo debut.

really???  :D ;D

I think that "Navigating by the stars" is a masterpiece..

Master Ray

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2021, 08:43:35 PM »

Yup, I don't know what the reviewer was talking about when he said NBTS wasn't a great album...  :-\

Nevermind.  Sounds like Surrpounded will be a cracker.  Can't wait!

nkdublu

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2021, 09:01:07 PM »
a rather average solo debut.

really???  :D ;D

I think that "Navigating by the stars" is a masterpiece..

I couldnt believe that comment either, especially after giving the new album such a good review!

cthulhu

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2021, 05:20:03 AM »
I've read the review in german and i just don't like it that much. I feel it gives some kind of false impressions, like that "album followed album" only flanked by concert tours. I feel it's more the other way around, with about one Album every 3 years.

And this sentence "This is sometimes lost in the consideration of his regular band, which has produced one or the other dance floor filler, but has always been explicitly political and socially critical." i also don't like that much, seems more like a pre-conception.

And on top of that saying that NBTS is a rather an average solo debut...boy, that is totally coming not from the same world i'm living in.

I just don't like this review, i don't hate it but it didn't give me that much.

But anyway thanks for posting it!

I think there will be some reviews about Sourrounded by people, who will then discover NBTS and i'm excited to read them.
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try again. fail again. fail better.
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Ghosttrain

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2021, 09:37:47 AM »
Totally agree with Guillaume's post.....a classic album.. 8)...

Guillaume

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2021, 06:51:41 PM »
« Last Edit: May 20, 2021, 07:55:34 PM by Guillaume »

cthulhu

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2021, 03:00:32 PM »
Here's a second, enthusiastic review:

https://www.scienceofnoise.net/justin-sullivan-sorrounded/

I bet this is an enthusiastic one, but...i cannot read it.. :o ;)
Seems to be in spanish?!?

Only one week to go, so then i can make my own review for me ;)

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try again. fail again. fail better.
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Guillaume

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2021, 06:41:22 PM »
Here's a second, enthusiastic review:

https://www.scienceofnoise.net/justin-sullivan-sorrounded/

I bet this is an enthusiastic one, but...i cannot read it.. :o ;)
Seems to be in spanish?!?

Here's the flawed, rough english translation of this spanish review:

The genius of the great Justin Sullivan is becoming more and more clear to me. To all this I have to add that the last concert I could attend before the world changed (to worse) were their New Model Army, and I really enjoyed their proposal. Beyond his mother band, this Englishman with difficult teeth and exceptional compositional angel, delivers grapes to single material pears, showing himself naked and sincere and telling you stories as beautiful as sad. His last and only solo album was released 18 years ago and was titled Navigating by the Stars.

Most of this work was forged in the early days of the forced confinement of those we populate the Earth. A beautiful lament that can be the soundtrack of the worst days of pandemic, with a folk air and a lot of mystique. There are up to 16 cuts all following clear patterns and a marked troubadour-storyteller style in dark times. Recorded almost everything in his home and with several collaborations that complete an intimate work full of well-known stories, others less... and quite a bit of autobiographical material.


Here we have Sullivan armed with his acoustics and voice, boosted by some very sober and minimalist effects and arrangements. A succession of cold and icy atmospheres in which his voice tells beautiful stories surrounded by dark, dark and wide landscapes. The fact that he approached the incredible story of Amundsen and Scott in the conquest of the South Pole already beats me in advance. What’s more, it’s a single and it’s the best track on the album, although there are many that are well worth it. "Dirge" opens the disc brilliantly by marking territory and showing what this is all about. Double whispered murmurs and ethnic percussions including Tibetan bowls and strings.

Another of the singles are the nude and rough chords that accompany him in the positivist "Clean Horizon". A ray of light between the storm clouds with a rope accompaniment as effective as beautiful. Same premises for that cloud that is "Stone and Heather" or for the dark and narrated "Coming With Me".

In "Sao Paulo" Justin becomes a kind of crooner in the style of Leonard Cohen, with that deep voice, a double bass, effects and a train with which he finishes the composition. It’s time to highlight one of the greatest songs, and this is "28th May". Heartfelt melancholic tone with festive airs that contrasts with the more marinera "Akistan", well wrapped up throughout the section of rope and wind effects.

Moderate optimism in "1975", always with a good handwriting, one of the marks of the house of the great Justin Sullivan. Ethereal is "Sea Again", returning a little to the sailor clichés that our protagonist always tastes. Keeping the tone of the album is a beautiful "Clear Skies" and the brief "Rip Tides". We meet again with some of the most inspired compositions in "Daughter of the Sun", and especially in "Ride", with a great chorus with double voices.

" Justin Sullivan makes clear what a solo album has to be: something intimate, that you carry inside and that moves away from your main band or band. Anyway, many of these songs, electrified and at faster tempos could work perfectly in New Model Army. The album may be something long and monotonous, but the beauty that encloses is a lot, the moments of brilliance happen It is worth saying that Sullivan, armed only with his acoustic guitar, can take you to an infinite world of sensations and sensitivity. Sorrounded is the perfect example that the pandemic has made so many musicians and bands finish those projects they had in the drawer."
« Last Edit: May 21, 2021, 06:48:04 PM by Guillaume »

Guillaume

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #9 on: May 22, 2021, 11:48:44 AM »
Review from Vive le Rock! magazine:

 

Marcin D.

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #10 on: May 22, 2021, 02:26:11 PM »
I've read the review in german and i just don't like it that much. I feel it gives some kind of false impressions, like that "album followed album" only flanked by concert tours. I feel it's more the other way around, with about one Album every 3 years.

And this sentence "This is sometimes lost in the consideration of his regular band, which has produced one or the other dance floor filler, but has always been explicitly political and socially critical." i also don't like that much, seems more like a pre-conception.

And on top of that saying that NBTS is a rather an average solo debut...boy, that is totally coming not from the same world i'm living in.

I just don't like this review, i don't hate it but it didn't give me that much.

But anyway thanks for posting it!

I think there will be some reviews about Sourrounded by people, who will then discover NBTS and i'm excited to read them.

I can't agree more. Even if we translate "durchschnittliche" as "mediocre" it wouldn't improve the impression that the author of the review doesn't touch the base. No offence.

cthulhu

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #11 on: May 22, 2021, 04:53:55 PM »
Thank you very much Guillaume for your translation!! It was a good read, though i skipped some parts where it seemed to go deeper into the description of single songs from the album, didn't want to know too much detail before hearing it, and i think this was way better translated than having put it through the machines.

And thank you again for your relentless efforts of diggig out stuff and linking and showing us here articles, etc.. You seem to me more and more like a mad (in a good way) archivar type!

@Marcin D
Yes, reading the article, though it was in good manners and ambition, it just felt a bit...not really knowing the subject by the author. It could have been a different opinion, no problem with that, but the way it was written felt like a copy and paste thing, not an opinion based on experience. 
ever tried. ever failed. no matter.
try again. fail again. fail better.
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Guillaume

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #12 on: May 22, 2021, 06:33:51 PM »
And thank you again for your relentless efforts of diggig out stuff and linking and showing us here articles, etc.. You seem to me more and more like a mad (in a good way) archivar type!

Thank you!  ;)


MaoLee

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #13 on: May 22, 2021, 07:24:18 PM »
https://streetclip.de/2021/05/21/justin-sullivan-surrounded/?fbclid=IwAR2UP15mrtVZAG62FSkKYvHKLcVK5k9dvKH5Uj-tikRImTarhAZmsxRpIAo

"Justin Sullivan releases another work. 'Surrounded' is only the second solo effort from the NEW MODEL ARMY frontman, eighteen years after 'Navigating By The Stars'.

2020 laid the foundation for this new collection of songs. This time Justin Sullivan simply sits down at his acoustic guitar and tells stories and incidents. Nevertheless, he does not see himself as a political commentator these days. While the previous album was composed in the time after 9/11, the second album is not lyrically indebted to the pandemic declared in 2020:

"Given the circumstances, it wasn't particularly surprising that this was the moment to make another solo record. The songs came out of nowhere in the first few weeks of the lockdown. It's not so much about what's happening in the world, I wanted to write about other things - some familiar stories, some not so familiar, some autobiographical and more a landscape of the imagination than a social commentary," Justin Sullivan reveals.

For the tales, such as the battle for the South Pole between Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen, Sullivan gets support from Jon Thorne on bass (LAMB) and current NEW MODEL ARMY colleagues. The brother of the NMA bassist, Tom Moth (FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE) with his harp, and the string arrangements by Tobias Unterberg, Henning Nügel and Shir-Ran Yinon make a decisive contribution to the dark and sometimes melancholic singer-songwriter sound.

And so the 16 compositions sound like a singer-songwriter who sometimes allows folk influences and often wallows in his pain, almost rather talking. This can be heard on the one hand with dulcimer and harmonium in '28th May' and on the other hand in 'Sao Paulo'. In 'Dirge' someone seems to bang against a pan before the acoustic guitar enters late. 'Amundsen' is heroic, 'Clean Horizon Dry' melancholic, 'Akistan' dramatic and 'Unforgiven' epic with fast string strokes. But also 'Coming With Me' should not be forgotten when mentioning highlights.

To provide Justin Sullivan's fans with enough music these days, 'Surrounded' will not only be released as a CD media book, but also as a limited edition double CD including his first solo work 'Navigating By The Stars', as well as both discs, the debut work now even on vinyl for the first time."

Guillaume

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Re: Reviews for Surrounded
« Reply #14 on: May 25, 2021, 06:46:05 PM »