Album Review

Phosphorescent – Pride

• 24th Oct 2007

A homemade ambience encapsulates the ethereal sounds of Phosphorescent’s 2007 LP Pride, summoning the spirit of early day Grandaddy, Daniel Johnston and taking a chance I’ll say Elliott Smith too, with its every bare boned composition.

The subtle but super strong wall of sound that sneakily supports each of these tracks deserves proper recognition and respect for its enhancing elements that include long drawn out vocals that effortlessly overlap and escalating instrumentation that’s made up of seemingly individual, fragile and even solitary solos.

And throughout, an inescapable and sorrowful sentiment soaks each song, saturating its sensitive soul with a mournful, helpless and surrendering sense of loss. A cheery little number then! What strikes me most about this album is that despite its inarguably morose tone, it somehow manages to twist, turn and to some extent craft the offered emotion into a life affirming acceptance of this sometimes torturous game in which we each play our part.

The overwhelming patience and tenderness of the delivery is sublime and spiritually, this LP, I hesitantly declare, comes second to none. The sleeve itself features a photo that’s surely inspired by a favourite film of mine, ‘Confessions of a Dangerous Mind’ in which a man stands naked and alone whilst undergoing a nervous breakdown. Whilst the character in the film is clearly suicidal, this LP reflects his remaining hopes that cause his tears to run, for when all hope is gone, there are no more tears, are there?

Unless Jason Pierce gets his finger out with his next Spiritualized album, filled with what he calls ‘the work of the devil’, I doubt that anything this year will come close to matching Pride and its swooning and majestic bitter-sweetness. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find Phosphorescents other LPs with an urgency seldom seen and even less frequently matched!