POIL UEDA (AS POIL UEDA)

IT'S BEEN THREE YEARS. For three, painfully long years, I've been waiting for this record to drop. Indeed, PoiL still remains my favourite music act of all time, and there's no one from whom I'd anticipate new music more than these guys. For this album PoiL joins forces with traditional Japanese singer/satsuma-biwa player Junko Ueda, as well as ni's bass player Benoit Lecomte. The album is finally here, my long wait is over - but does it deliver to my expectations?

Well... yes and no. To be honest, I feel quite disappointed - not by the music, mind you, but rather by the lack of it. Let me explain.

If you attended PoiL Ueda live shows or watched some of them online, you might be aware that the band has prepared at least an hour of new material. Meanwhile, this album lasts for 30 minutes and includes just two tracks - one of which being a single released almost two years ago. So, before listening to the album, I already knew almost half of it!

So where is the rest of the material? There were at least three more 10+ minutes compositions that did not make it on the album. What happened? I can only speculate, but at the end of the day, it is really saddening to not see them on the tracklist - especially since these three omitted tracks contained a lot of fun, experimental madness I love the band for.

The music that DID make it to the record however is excellent nonetheless. Kuj' Shakuj' is an energetic, yet soothing jazz fusion-like take on a buddhist chant that's supposed to eliminate any evil spirits. Even though the level of crazyness is not though the roof, I still like this track very much. There's almost a celestial feel to it - very relaxing and full of fun at the same time. There's also a lot of phenomenal sound design thoughout the track - most likely the courtesy of Guilhem Meier's extended drum kit. Excellent!

Dan No Ura has been teased (as a demo version) all the way back in 2021, and now can be heard in a more polished, detailed version. Another excellent track, full of solid grooves and bombastic energy. I'm really impressed by how well Junko's voice is incorporated into the avant-prog sound of the band - amazing stuff!

Overall - this album would easily make for a masterpiece and my personal AOTY, had the remaining compositions made it to the tracklist. Instead, all I'm left with is a hunger for MOREEEE. I really hope that the rest of the material will get recorded and released eventually - losing it would truly be a shame.

Consider my ranking as incomplete 5 stars for an incomplete 5 star album.