BLACKFIELD

It all started back when musician Aviv GEFFEN handed over the first demo for "Open Mind" to Steven WILSON in London. PORCUPINE TREE's front man embraced it right away, wrote the lyrics to it, did the proper arrangements, edited it at NO MAN'S LAND studio for the final mixes and thus, BLACKFIELD was brought to life. The project is quite unique, so harmlessly created that it doesn't intend to fit in some specific genre whatsoever, "it's only beautiful music" just like WILSON once declared to define the sound of BLACKFIELD. The self-titled debut album features a handful of eager Israeli musicians and a pack of well-known guest drummers such as Gavin HARRISON and Chris MAITLAND. The result was surprisingly convincing, this production is very fresh and audible, a true piece of work.

From the beginning you can perceive a very appealing fluidity in the lyrics and over the musical progression which is quite modest but no less impressive. The entireness of the album is based upon the spirit of straightforward rock that is wisely and continuously transformed in instrumentation to let musicians perform freely through a soulful feel of togetherness. As I pointed out before, there isn't a certain direction to where this music can land in terms of sorting out the genre but it's pretty much true that it leads us all to inner warps of appreciation.

When I first listened to BLACKFIELD, I worn out myself trying to find some relation with WILSON's signature when performing or writing some acid lyrics but here you won't find any of that. Instead, unrevealing but fearless lyrics will come to your ears through punchy and skin-crawling notes from the instruments we're all familiar with. One of the mere purposes is not to impress the listener out of first glance but to suck him right in the adventure of discovering new passages of understanding. And BLACKFIELD does it quite right.

All in all the album is solid rock, bold and so devouring. The songs are short, concise and never whimsical in elaboration. There are not musical passages full of virtuosity but powerful, honest notes. Tracks I'm fond of due its evident dedication and composition would be "Open Mind", "Blackfield", "Pain" and "Cloudy Now". Rest of the songs have a spirit of their own by never sounding off like any other in the total running time. "Blackfield" is a very refreshing album, full of pleasant surprises. It also features the red carpet to following production over one of the bonus tracks, "Where Is My Love?". If not entirely essential, I'm sure you could find a place for it within your collection.