Manchester`s The Durutti Column release their first collection of new material since 2010’s `A Paean to Wilson` with `Renascent` whose title would appear to come from the Latin word renasci, meaning “to be born again”.The group are led by guitarist Vini Reilly in collaboration with Bruce Mitchell on drums and Keir Stewart on bass, keyboards and harmonica. The folktronica artist Caoilfhionn Rose Birley sang on two tracks and played piano on another. The album was also given a Factory Too catalogue number, in collaboration with Oliver Wilson, son of Tony Wilson.
We are led into the album via the gentle `Echoes In The Memory` a guitar led outline and a taster of what`s to come. There was a sense of awakening about `Your Shadow At Morning`, a further tender offering that had that feeling of quiet reflection before the day ahead.
`Time Present And Time Past` has a real almost iridescent shimmer and feels quite reflective, meditative and contemplative, possibly a reflection on life and mortality. The title of `Agonistes` would suggest an intense inner emotional struggle and there are likely hints of this but with Caoilfhionn Rose Birley`s ethereal vocals shared atop and throughout the number had an exquisite deep seated longing or yearning.
`Liars` had an enticing pulse like heartbeat at times and for me felt as if it mirrored someone seeking forgiveness or redemption. It has an understated trippy ambience with quiet spoken word asking for absolution and repeating a plea of devotion which added a breathy soulfulness to this piece. The wonderfully titled `Vapour In A Matchbox` is an edgy and tense one hundred and twenty nine seconds that feels as if it`s about to explode but never does.
`Your Shadow At Evening` is maybe a companion piece to the earlier `morning` track but here it has an almost primal rolling beat and perhaps echoes the onset of a late afternoon heading towards sunset. Caoilfhionn Rose Birley returns to add vocals and piano on `Sargasso Sea` perhaps named after the ocean gyre and the only named sea without land boundaries. A delicate submission that does give the impression of an aquatic setting.
`Scammer` would conjure up thoughts of a grifter or swindler but it`s a kind of shimmering platform for a spoken word oration that if i`m honest I found difficult to follow so can only say that it was a composition that had a sparkle and glistened for a short period of time. I read that `For Friends Everywhere` is a reworked version of the band’s early track `For Belgian Friends`, given an orchestral arrangement. It stated that it was given a spirit of renewal through reinterpretation, a richly textured piece imbued with reflection and emotional weight that stands as both a tribute to their past and a continuation into the future. This sums up the track better than I could have although it didn`t sound like the original and had a real cinematic expansive quality.
`All They See Is Fire` is a cd bonus track and has a fairly hypnotic ambience about it. It enjoys brass hues, guitar riffs and vocals that are almost layered over this intricate soundscape. A delightfully reflective and thought provoking piece.
There was so much to enjoy with `Renascent` whose tile being an adjective that means becoming active, strong, or popular again. It describes something that is born anew, revived, or experiencing a fresh surge of life and energy and this latest opus from The Durutti Column is this and so much more.
I read once that the Durutti Column`s music was akin to a guided meditation which kind of sums them up and with `Renascent` I’d encourage you to be directed by their latest deep and blissful musical reflection.
Rating 9/10
