one of the best records i have ever worked on

you are everything

i loved our first minimalist outing

i thought our second one not quite so good as the first

but this….this….this is a magnificent collection

some people on here dont like me singing the praises of my other collaborators

feeling like “the church is my main axe why dont i just stick to that”

well as i said before

due to many many issues technical personal financial etc

there is no new church album

there still may be one day but really i wouldnt wait for it if i was you

i am telling you this new K/K album is as good as U23 as good as P=A

and even better in some ways…

first of all the sound

simon fucking polinski has given this record a sheen a gloss a depth

its like his whole life has lead up to mixing this

talk about lush talk about luxurious talk about organic

there is a cast of thousands

strings percussion backing vocals woodwinds pianos

i’ll grant you one thing there is no electric guitar interplay a la church

i know some of you love that more than anything else

martin kennedy is no jimi hendrix …ok

what he is is an amazing musical composer

hes taken a great leap forward between this and  “white magic”

an architect of song now

this mild mannered genius disguised as martin kennedy

has wrought 11  sonic masterpieces ; an honour to sing on them

this is like the blue nile or like talk talk or steely dan or something

not in sound but in the intelligence and love and maturity

it deserves to be number one around the whole world

its universal its personal its spiritual its for everyman

hard to believe that we even made this disc

that he came up with this music

that i came up with these words

it will be almost impossible to top this

where after all can you go after something like this

i want to excite you

i want to enthuse you

i want to make you quiver in anticipation

as i deliver possibly my best singing and lyrics

you want word play ?

you want songs where every line is a little fucking gem?

you want resonant deep soft notes and distant high choirs?

you want drugs and sex and love and death and god and all that jazz?

its no longer a pop record

it is beyond that narrow focus

we have stumbled on a universe of beauty here martin n i

not just one of the best records i ever made

one of the best records ever made period.

yes its that good

here is a track by track preview

 

the record starts with i wouldnt know

a dialogue with the devil

a chat to the cynical doubting darkness

super melodic as is the whole album

backing vocals la ooooh ooooh

pianos bent out of shape

the singing becomes higher and more plaintive as it goes on

wonderful stuff

 

 

 

next up is everyone

kinda like the title track

(but why do i think that)

it starts with that familiar old aussie/english voice

gruff doing a kinda kilbey rap

bitching about everything

the way only a white hippy elijah can

blaming god and even wondering if he exists

a girls voice comes in

“dear father send me money ”

more existential rapping and bitching

then a lovely oboe solo weaves in and out of nylon guitar

and then

and then martin pulls off his trick

where half way through a song changes gear and morphs before our eyes

this happens 3 times on this record

and every time its a corker

but here the shift is incredible

blinded by the holy light

everything swept up in the majestic strings

the prophet suddenly sees his god everywhere

(you are everything)

“hold on youre everyone” he exclaims

and did you ever really hear my voice sounding better than this

i havent

this is real singing

expressing the wonder and hurt of this world

everything swells up around my voice

repeating that simple phrase

the girl joins in

(leona gray)

she sings unison harmony and octave

and the mellotron strings pile in upping the ante

abloodymasterpiece!

 

lorelei is a like martin getting in touch

with his inner shoegazer

a huge dreamy soaring chorus

punctuated with twisted darker verses

you’ll hear my voice fucked with and fucked up

i like that

amongst the organic crooning

is some real electro babble

so may it be and so may it rock!

 

knowing you are in this world

a simple slow song

like spending the afternoon in a quiet monastery garden

or remembering someone who’s gone

or laying your world at someones feet

hushed reverential

you can almost smell the holy roman incense

 

i find  

weird song

a song about a tourist in trouble

hows this for a clever chorus?

“in brazil the eyes of love are on you

imbecile the highs are right above you”

ive done a remix of this one for the double cd

 

 

East side West side

 

a song of philosophy and hedonism

the second song that changes in the middle

martins music taunt threatening

so often reminding me of low/heroes

indeed david bowie is the godfather of much here

eno n berlin and all that

martin n i both revering krautrock its only natural

but this one is the most germanic of all

and then it changes

and the teutonic stuff all comes back in spades

man i wish i was in Cologne

“its so funny

the clowns that surround you

do you proud”

 

a better day

bewildered lost dislocated song

strings drifting along

a simple poignant song

always melodic always organic

 

all the world

starts simply strummed

but evolves into a revolving door of sound

strings and whispered voices come in

echoing things and electro spirit voice

then for the third time a song changes into another

and intersects with itself again

the strings bend in a seasick swoop

cymbals clash and drum machine starts up

effortless crossing merging styles

this is every good “adult contemporary” record you (n)ever heard

 

brother moon sister sun

a commissioned song martin fell in love with and couldnt let go of it

so he decommissioned it n brought it back in the fold

and its a rousing corker too

with anthemic chorus etc

it deserves to be here after all

 

cant get free

k/k go prince someone has already said

and who am i to disagree

sexy taut and terrific

one of my real faves!

 

finale

a twisted creepy little ender

scenes of a distant childhood

or some mad person in a garret?

ooh how strange……

 

so there you go

you are everything

to me and martin kennedy

 

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CD purchases are available here http://thetimebeing.com/shop/music/you-are-everything-cd/

Digital downloads here http://stevekilbey.bandcamp.com