`Apple For Isaac` is Echo & The Bunnymen`s thirteenth studio album and their first album of newly written songs in over a decade. It features drumming from the late Blondie drummer Clem Burke on almost all tracks. He sadly passed away during the album’s completion and the album is dedicated to his memory.
The release kicks off with `Take Me By The Hand` which has some really sweet and intricate guitar riffs from maestro Will Sergeant. A number that lyrically seems a kind of confirmation of that need for somebody in your life but only on your terms. A track that will stick in your subconscious after a few plays. There`s layered vocals about personal autonomy or independence with `Can’t Be Sold`. I felt there was a real shimmer to this piece.
If I’m honest I wasn`t that enamoured about `Brussels Is Haunted` when I first heard this track but the more I’ve heard it, the more it`s grown on me. A quite introspective offering on a city which was the very first foreign city the band played in which namechecks local cultural figures and friends from the Brussels nightlife scene who supported the band back then, such as Bert Bertrand and Annik Honoré. We enjoy a mid-paced composition with `I`ll Be Your Sunshine`, a meditative reflection with strings on being there for somebody close who is obviously cherished and treasured. A number that is quite sentimental.
`Hijacked` is overflowing with surreal lyrics which seem full of metaphors which includes the album’s title `Apple For Isaac` and for me felt the nearest to a typical or definitive Bunnymen song. There`s a Carpe Deum or seize the day feel to `The Honey`. An upbeat and melodic submission that appears to emphasise that life is a journey to be lived and not a problem to be solved.
Benjamin Franklin wrote: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes” and when you get to a certain age you become more contemplative or ruminative on mortality and with that said, `An Unstoppable Force` wonderfully reflects this philosophical mindset which focuses on the transient nature of life rather than outright panic. The track itself has a kind of illusory vibe with the accompanying strings adding a further sense of poignancy. There`s a similar mood with `The Light That Surrounds You` but it almost has a more spiritual ambience.
`Lab Rats Run` is another number that`s lyrically surreal and a little different, fast paced, virtually pulsating with saxophone hues. It seems to embody the sentiment of life, the universe and everything. The abstractness continues with `Asimov` which namechecks Isaac Asimov the American science fiction writer but beyond that I was lost.
`We Prayed In The Dark` is a final musing on the passage of time, a really atmospheric number to close out on.
`Apple For Isaac` is an album that seems to come from a maturity of age when you look back on your life but also with a view to what`s to come and Echo & The Bunnymen perfectly reflect that here both musically and lyrically. Ian McCulloch is a couple of months younger than me so I have to admit a lot of this really felt familiar. I remember the anticipation I felt with the arrival of the band`s first four albums `Crocodiles`, `Heaven Up Here`, Porcupine` and Ocean Rain` and had similar feelings as I listened to this latest opus.
The band have announced dates for November and December so there’s an opportunity to hear some of these tracks in a live setting.
Rating 9/10
