Here's one I did earlier:
Right, here’s the procedure: The new NMA album has arrived, albeit only as a download so far which means that I have no lyric sheet or anything. I have burnt the songs onto a CD and I’m going to listen to it and review each song in real time. As long as the song plays I’m allowed to review it. So this is pretty much a first impressions exercise and subject to later change (especially after the live gigs!).
Horsemen: Tribal rhythm and some slide guitar to start, lyric snippet “On the far right they’re saddling up the horsemen” might be a reference to Nigel Farrage’s UKIP which would make this a political song; quite monotonous until the guitar sets in, NMA are a rock band, after all, quite sophisticated composition with some good backing vocals
March in September: Great start with some swirling organ sound, Michael on drums does the business as well, Ceri plays a great bass line which makes the memory of Nelson redundant; “So you tried to make family but nothing was given” unclear so far, probably one of Justin’s story songs about a person only he knows; great guitar solo (probably by Marshall) at the end and woo-oo-oo backing vox; texture of the song also enhanced by a violin (probably played by Ceri)
Seven Times: “Seven times sun, seven times rain”, might be a love song “It’s been too long since I walked with you”; another song dominated by the drumbeat, sounds quite commercial (a bit like Autumn), a very tasteful and not at all rocking guitar solo; I think this is the song during which Ceri plays the bodhran live
Did You Make it Safe?: Another one in the list of songs about people leaving their country (comp. Refugee and Another Imperial Day, not G&G because the leaving is not voluntary); interesting brass sound (Dean’s keyboards?) halfway through, “Did you make it safe to the promised place?” , overall a drum and keyboard song
I Need More Time: Another tribal drumbeat; Justin employs his Leonard Cohen voice (comp. Whites of Their Eyes and Someone Like Jesus); slow and brooding, “I need more time to make good on the promises”; again sophisticated backing vocals which makes it sound over-produced; some interesting use of the piano, though; last part speeding up like Red Earth but with much less guitar; the character in the song pleading with someone (“I need more time” ad infinitum)
Pull the Sun: Bass driven to start with, interesting rhythm guitar, bubbling drumbeat, lyrics obscure, bass still dominant which is not a bad thing but overall the weakest song so far, goes on for a bit too long
Lean Back and Fall: More of a traditional rock song albeit slow; chorus girls (sorry, boys) go wailingly “I’m falling again”; a typical NMA song
Knievel: Shows that Justin is a secret biker, it is about Evil Knievel, the recently deceased motorcyclist and stuntman; live sound and acoustic guitar at the beginning; “I was driving from the day I was born … I was always going too fast… Do they come to see a man fall or to to see him fly?”; crooned by Justin “Frank Sinatra” Sullivan
Stormclouds: The first real rocker, great guitar riff and organ accompaniment, “Desire is the point of everything… Here come the stormclouds”, has the potential to become a real anthem (like Island or Get Me Out and so many others), speeds up at the end to a great crescendo
Between Dog and Wolf: the title track, named after a medieval French expression for dusk when you don’t know if the animal approaching is one or the other; eerie keyboard and percussion at the beginning; Justin crooning again (in general, the vocals are high up in the mix on the album); comes into its known with the fast and driving chorus, another one which should be great in a live setting; percussion solo (maybe played by Ceri) at the end
Qasr El Nil Bridge: A song about a geographical landmark like La Push and Marrakesh; Arab voices to start with, building up slowly until the drums set in; good story song, quite commercial, some Arabian sounding string instrument is discernible in the mix but ultimately driven by the drumbeat, again quite sophisticated backing vocals; final part of quite a long song (7 minutes!)includes some killer improvisation and speeds up considerably to a climax, another highlight of the album
Tomorrow Came: a straightforward rock track of the faster variety, good stuff, Marshall’s guitar upfront in the mix; more of these, please!
Summer Moors: slow and bluesy, dominated by acoustic and slide guitar, another sad love song like Dawn and Turn Away “You were so much in love with her … you were just another setting sun”), excellent stuff
Ghosts: drums and handclasps to start, lyrics seem to be about the end of a relationship (like Long Goodbye), “The ghosts [of a former relationship – my interpretation] are part of us”, of the slower variety
So there you have it, 14 songs in 65 minutes and well worth the wait of 4 years since Today Is A Good Day. The album will take time to grow on me unlike TIAGD , High and Carnival which pretty much caught my ear straight away. Methinks, Justin and the boys wanted to challenge the fans with this one and they have certainly achieved it (if indeed this was their aim). The proof of the pudding lies in its eating so roll on the live gigs!
