John Frusciante & Josh Klinghoeffer-A Sphere In The Heart Of Silence (LP Review)
Red Hot Chili Peppers. They have risen from indie obscurity in the 80s to become one of the biggest and most popular bands of the world today. I used to be a big fan, but Stadium Arcadium completely lost me at some point between Jupiter and Mars and that spelt the end of my fascination with the band.
Around the same time I was being turned of Red Hot Chili Peppers I began to listen to the solo work of their lead guitarist John Frusciante. After releasing his fifth solo album Shadows Collide With People in February of 2004, Frusciante announced in June of that year to Rolling Stone Magazine that he would release six records over the next six months. Most of these records were to be recorded over a short period of time. The express intent of these recordings was to try and return to the roots of popular music, to break away from being pedantic about the minor details of the recording and record everything in a short space of time. A Sphere In The Heart of Silence is the fifth record in the series of six, released in November of 2004. Recorded in collaboration with Josh Klinghoeffer over the space of ten days the album is an extensive foray into electronic music, marking a fairly significant departure from Frusciante’s normal solo output which is typically guitar driven.
There is no clear way to define this album beyond the manifest presence of synthesizers and a pop leaning throughout. The record pops and squeaks into existence through opening track-Sphere-an 8 minute instrumental. While there are crackling synths and heavy beats throughout the record Sphere is not necessarily an accurate measure off which to gauge the album. From the second track the vocals kick in (a duty that is shared between Frusciante and Klinghoeffer) and they completely change the mood and intensity of the album from this point onward.
The centerpiece of the record to my mind is the third track-Walls. Walls is brought in through a programmed beat and then completely takes off with a driving and repetitive synth line, which is until the vocals kick in. It’s difficult to define, but there is just something about the way that Frusciante sings everything is immediately brought into focus and it almost doesn’t matter what he says because you can positively feel it leaking out of the vocals. Klinghoeffer serves as a good foil to this intensity, his vocals immediately feel as though they are being heard through a matte finish, not dull, but definitely tapping into a different vein of intensity to those of Frusciante. If Walls is the centerpiece of the record, then Surrogate People is its most clear statement. The track essentially closes the album, followed only by the a little out of place, but nonetheless sweeping track My Life which comes in at only 1:37. Frusciante’s refrain throughout Surrogate People “surrogate people, they walk on by, when they replace you they live your life” suggests at the tone of the preceding tracks, an observation on the state of life and emptiness.
Intensity is the key here. This record is a vigorous exploration of feeling laced with synthetic sounds and aggressive pop informed vocals. Immediately a little disarming but wholly approachable the record never wavers and once it starts to seep in becomes inescapable.
7.8/10
A Sphere In The Heart Of Silence on iTunes
2 years ago • 0 notes