- After living with this album for a month.. I have finally conjured the courage to review it. Six Feet Above Yesterday is a majestic, meticulous, malevolent, magical 62 minutes. If I sound like I'm getting carried away that's because I am. With good reason. In Sharrad's liner notes he tells us we are holding "the fruit of three years long and arduous gestation. Enjoy in the comfort of your own mind". Bear that in...
Over 13 tracks, the programming provokes emotions rare to find, coupled with the amiguity of Sharrad and Xavier's vocals. Part-spoken word, part (heart)strings soothsayer... part indescribable. Winding basslines that are both evil and intriguing...
Let's take it from the top shall we....
1. Better World
Jeremy Bishop's guitar shreds through a nastier-than-thou break; signalling the album's intent. Hooks galore. Better World doesn't quite capture their live energy but goes damn close. Handclaps keep the organic feel, while Sharrad's voice fights through the swarm of gorgeous noise. "The Devil's in the details" is a sneaky lyric that rings true for the nuanced Infusion sound - always another layer to unwrap. A stomping breaks cacophony that manages to tick all the right boxes as an album opener.
2. The Careless Kind
A vocal-driven *song pushed forward by a deep undercurrent of synths and keys. Mid-tempo chugger with light xylophoney touches that whisk you into a pleasant field of dreams, minus the baseball reference. Clears the palate before..
3. Feeding From The Hand
Clint Hyndman (Something For Kate's grinning skinsman) provides the kick-you-in-the-pancreas-til-you-beg-for-more drumming that lifts you off the grassy knoll and into the heart of the Death Star (or Mordor if you're more LOTR than ESB). Excellent prog-house pump-up tune that segues into...
4. Girls Can Be Cruel
Production-smarts ahoy! The lead single positively VAULTS out of the speakers, like Bruce Lee's sonic reincarnation. That sounds wanky but it's apt. Gets to the point (read: mainroom chorus) a bit quicker than the radio version, which enhances the flow of the album. Effortless bounce and fuzziness. A gem.
5. Love and Imitation
Subtly continuing the spurned lover theme, Love and Imitation is nigh on the pick of the album. Lucien Foort will love it. Dirty, driving basslines are sprinkled with Eno bleeps and thundercrashes reminscent of 'On the Outside' and 'Spike' from first effort 'Phrases and Numbers'. A slight nod to the Nubreed remix of Crystal Method's 'Born To Slow' in the breakdown... but forget all these comparisons because this is a template unto itself. Brilliant use of voice at the 3.47 mark - a hook within a hook within..(ad lib till i fade) Might use it as the song played at my wedding as buxom bride and I exit the chapel en route to Barcelona. I'm serious.
6. Daylight Hours
Pulsing, delicately executed song that lulls the listener into a world of gentle horns, trombones, vibraphones and trumpets before dropping into a monotonal mantra. Like nothing Infusion has ever produced. The brass keeps a strong foundation while the main body of Daylight Hours swims and drowns. A fuzzy, shimmering piece that recreates the feeling of going out, getting on it, getting up there and staying there for those precious hours.
Best lyrical bit:
"I've got itchy feet / Gonna hit the dancefloor / Gonna pave the way..."
7. Invisible
Plenty of bands out there would love to be able to produce a waltz as pretty as this. Infusion extend their range, with Airlie Smart's viola and Nigel McLean's electric violin forming the nucleus. Invisble is like the first time you heard Orbital's Little Fluffy Clouds. Manuel's lyrics are dreamier than ever, world-weary but coated with hope. "Tomorrow's child tell me you've never seen this before" gets the creative juices flowing, leading to another lyrical lilt "And car alarms teach all the new birds to sing". Moby wishes he could still write music like this.
8. Best in Show
The dancefloor fills again with shuffling. This time Andy Page's guitar dominates proceedings over an elevator-shaft intro. Then Best In Show breaks your neck. Purpose-built for the Fabric sound system - jerky funk that lumbers forth, nailed together by (I think) Xavier and Sharrad's singing. Page's guitar chimes in with brutal wakka-wakka effects. A real grower.
9. Rattlewasp
The most blatant 'dance track' on the album, guaranteed to tear the roof off most clubs with its percussive madness, but doesn't seem to fit in here. Very Bladerunner (read: sci-fi chase scene) but too obvious. The only weakpoint on the album, mildly redeemed toward the end.
10. Dream
Understated and curious. A fine anecdote to Rattlewasp. Mysterious keys meander in and out while layered vocals build another mantra. Slight 80s touches that The Cure would dig. And you will too.
11. We Follow. I Fly
Sweetly soulful, with dashes of Pink Floyd and Vangelis intermingling without being that guy at the party you just can't get away from. Smoothes out the creases in your shirt before you slip into something more.....epic
12. Always There
Yessum. Yes. Oh Hell Yeah. A minimal, quietly-industrial opening, snatches of static, then a lurching breakbeat with Jeremy Bishop's bass propelling it to victory. Like waking up and remembering that you just won the lottery AND Natalie Portman.
13. Continental Drift
Miriam Sharrad muses on her cello over a piano rumination a la October by U2. The child has been born, grown up quick, and left home to see the world. All you can do is sit there with your head in your hands not knowing whether to laugh or cry for joy. Bless you boys.