`Film Noir` is the new album from Adam Franklin, Swervedriver`s founding member`s side or alternative project Bolts of Melody. `Film Noir` is a debut album of sorts with the name “Bolts of Melody” originally stemming from one of Franklin’s solo tracks. Over several incarnations the name has since taken on a life of its own, coining the collective group of music-makers responsible for touring and recording the project. Franklin teamed up once again with long-time musical companions, Locksley Taylor (SIANspheric), Josh Stoddard and Mikey Jones, and the album features notable collaborations and guest appearances from The Besnard Lakes and Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis.
The album opens with `555` and looking as to the significance of this number sequence a quick search reveals a combination of the spiritual number 5 repeated 3 times and means that you should be on the lookout for miracles. This could well just be a load of b***ocks and it`s random. The track has an initial sonic noise and becomes quite trippy with “you can do it all again” and similar mantras spliced through this aural ambience. There`s a much faster pace to `Hi-Rise Decade` which rolls along and allows you to feel as if you are on a voyage to who knows where with its captivating instrumental landscape.
`The Village Sleeps` and `Harpsiglass` between them run at just over two minutes with the former quite somnolent and the later sounding as if it`s an exert from `Twin Peaks`.
`Vibratube` which may well be named after a retro hearing device is pretty electronic in nature while `Suzuki’s Dream` has that aura of a night time vision, hallucination or reverie with some Germanic sounding sentiments cut through. `Cop’s Raid Easy’s` has an almost dub like texture running through its heart and is subsequently followed by `Black Flower` which is kind of introspective with some delightful guitar chord riffs. Black Flowers usually symbolise mourning, despair, sadness, death, hatred, and sometimes obsessive love.
`The Isle Is Full of Noise` gives of a feeling of a murder mystery awaiting solving whereas `Church Scene` does portray a spiritual ambience and mood with almost gospel like harmonies sprinkled throughout. `LSME` might or might not be an acronym for the London School of Management Education which offers affordable and high-quality education in Business and Management programmes in London. It`s an ambient reflective, studious, and absorbing listen with electronic tinges and skewered guitar chords which feels slightly psychedelic.
`Tomorrow’s World` might hint toward what`s to come possibly with developments in science and technology but it`s a fairly out-there illusory, surreal piece with a variety of spoken word sentiments inserted along route.
`Vamp` leads us out with some foreign language aural segments interspliced over a jazzy atmospheric vibe.
`Film Noir` is a style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace. But here it`s an appealing and at times mesmerising thirty odd minutes of at times instrumental music and sound that will take you on a fairly eclectic journey. There`s spoken word vocals by Heinz Riegler, Jace Lasek, Kellie Lloyd, Sukie Smith, Duncan Swift, and even Adam Franklin himself. It`s a venture that is difficult to associate with any one musical genre but well worth the time taken to give it airplay. Tune in and turn on to `Film Noir`.
Rating 8/10
