A GROUNDING IN NUMBERS

A Grounding in Numbers followed in 2011. I actually had an opportunity to see them on tour for this release while I was in Europe. However, I was way too jetlagged to do anything and was compelled to skip the show. I regret not seeing them (as I doubt they'll ever tour North America, especially the west coast), but I was far too tired to attend a concert that night.

"Your Time Starts Now" is a slow-moving, swelling, and ultimately forgettable track. Hammill's vocal arrangements are strong, and it's another good lyrical outing, but there's nothing that distinctive about this song. "Mathematics" is another clever lyrical piece, but the music stays in a middling, piano-jazz lane. 

"Highly Strung" switches things up a bit with a fittingly anxious guitar line. There are weird new-wave and art-punk influences. I'm still not crazy about Hammill's guitar style, but the strange edginess of this cut suits the band well.

"Red Baron" is a short, atmospheric instrumental that sounds like it was originally recorded for disc two of Pawn Hearts, but at barely two minutes, it doesn't overstay its welcome.

"Bunshō" is a pretty strong cut. Organ and guitar meld into a moody backdrop for Hammill's voice. There's a sense of drama to this song, and the development is well-plotted. In the song's final couple minutes, the band does a great job of playing their signature dark and jagged prog.

The instrumental elements of "Snake Oil" are strong, but the vocal melody feels somewhat forced. That piece is followed by another short and disorienting instrumental, "Splink".

"Embarrassing Kid" has an awkward and uneven riff, but that was probably intentional given the song's title and subject matter. In contrast, "Medusa" is mournful and gloomy. The arrangement is minimal, and the song's brevity works in its favor. It works as an interlude, but it would have been a dull piece had it been dragged out to five minutes, like many other latter-era VdGG songs.

"Mr. Sands" is an example of one of those too-long songs. The ideas in it are good, but it would have worked fine as a sub-four-minute piece. "Smoke", another short song, follows, and it's one of my favorites on the album. It has a fun, loose, wobbly feel; the band has always excelled when they've leaned into weird ideas. "5533" has an even looser, more shambolic atmosphere. The guitar (at least some of which is played by drummer Guy Evans) is especially weird. It's skittery, jumpy, and heavily affected.

A Grounding in Numbers ends with the harpsichord-heavy "All Over the Place". This is one of the better songs on the album, and it's well-constructed. However, it still suffers from some of the same ills seen elsewhere: it's a bit too long, and it feels like it could have used a little more refinement.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2023/07/10/deep-dive-van-der-graaf-generator/