Picking up the reigns and proceeding with full conviction, Black Midi's Geordie Greep proves just as masterful an artist in this solo debut. Luke Bower takes a full, in-depth exploration of The New Sound below...
‘When the smoke clears, what is left?’ Greep exclaims at the forefront of The Magician; an apt summation of where he is both as a musician and in the narrative context of his new record ‘The New Sound’ itself. To say the least, it’s been a tumultuous past few months for fans of once Greep led London art rock outfit black midi. A slew of drunken Instagram livestream comments from the frontman and tweets of blindsided concern from member Cameron Picton culminated in what seemed to be a bitter, potentially hostile hiatus for the band. The news comes off the back of black midi solidifying themselves as a household name among the ever-vague umbrella of ‘post-punk’, with recent third record hellfire being met with resounding critical acclaim. It’s an unfortunate fate for a band that continued to show more and more prowess with every release and tour, but it hasn’t all been adversity.
Out of the ashes of black midi’s untimely split comes The New Sound: Greep’s first release under his own name. Recorded in London and Sao Paolo, produced by Seth ‘Shank’ Evans and boasting an eclectic ensemble of 27 musicians across its recording, The New Sound wears its world music and jazz fusion influences on its sleeve, yet still maintains familiar Greep-isms that were once a staple in black midi’s best work. The record’s rollout itself has been unconventional to say the least, feeding in to Greep’s self-proclaimed need to be himself and stray away from the condescending nature of corporate press releases, made evident with him announcing new singles nonchalantly via his Instagram stories for instance.
The first taste of the record came in the form of Holy, Holy: an intoxicating, satirical cabaret of a song that paints a pathetic image of a character to genius effect. It’s a track that demonstrates Greep’s wit and brilliance as a storyteller in his song writing, which is an attribute proven time and time again in black midi tracks such as Dangerous Liaisons, and acts as a preliminary glimpse into the gruesome imagery and whimsical narratives across the rest of The New Sound. Above all however, Holy, Holy exudes a swagger and refreshing experimentation musically, with it’s Latin grooves and instrumental progression resulting in one of the most rewarding listens of the year. Charlotte Foulkes reviews the track in full in expert detail here.
Next offering Blues displays similar technicality in its musicianship, conducted largely in part by the inclusion of Morgan Simpson on drums. The track opens the record with a subdued flurry of instrumentation before paving the way for Greep’s signature vocal charisma and absurd lyricism: “you’re all grown up, you have your own stove and your own pair of oven gloves”. Chord progressions intensify and Simpson’s drumming becomes increasingly difficult to comprehend as Greep loosely strings together the image of a hubris ridden young adult. Greep told Rolling Stone that he ‘wanted to do a song about when you think you’re the shit, and you have this feeling when you’re walking down the street, and you can imagine it’s a movie. Like, what a wanker!’. It’s a humorous narrative that contrasts the song’s exemplary polyrhythms and complexity, weaving intricately around the track’s hypnotic lead riff that sounds like a manic swarm of bees in parts. Greep brings the listener back down to earth amidst the frenzied array of grotesque imagery and masterful poetry, both in equal measure, with the line ‘but the jury is out to lunch’; showing the central character’s arrogant facade is futile and dismissed entirely by those around him. In my mind, Blues acts as a spiritual successor to the title track from black midi’s 2022 album Hellfire, in that it serves as a genius trajectory to catapult its listener into the world of the record. Blues superbly sets the tone for the entirety of The New Sound, and is one of the best offerings of its entirety as a result.
"The New Sound delivers an audacious mix of progressive rock, tantalising chords and intoxicating melodies"
Greep continues his incendiary instrumental onslaught with tracks Walk Up and Motorbike, the former of which has undoubtedly been my most played track since the album’s release. Eagle-eyed listeners will recognise its familiarity to Lumps: an unreleased staple of black midi’s recent live sets. Walk Up is vicious in its delivery, with Greep’s snarls towards its latter half complementing the energy and ferocity of its musicianship, all the while adding more and more to the album’s overarching themes of prostitution, solitude and humiliation, with the narrative of a businessman seeking to ‘walk up to love on your lunchbreak’. Motorbike displays similar desire and mournfulness, through the crooning desperation of Seth Evans who features on the track. It’s Geordie Greep and his guest musicians at their most frenetic, transitioning from luscious passages to explosive barrages of urgent, thunderous instrumentation.
The New Sound finds balance amidst the chaos in its quieter moments, notably with Terra and and the album’s title track, which lean heavily into Greep’s Brazilian music influence. Both songs feature a blazing horn section to compliment Greep’s theatrics, and host genius Bossanova-tinged compositions and arrangements too. They hold some of the most admirable moments on the record, as it’s a joy to listen to Greep’s passion for music translate near perfectly onto record, made evident by his maniacal squeals at the back end of ‘Terra’.
In its final moments, The New Sound delivers an audacious mix of progressive rock, tantalising chords and intoxicating melodies. As if Waltz and The Magician paint similar portraits of solemnity the record has already seen thus far. Laden with expressive harmonies and psychedelic fuzzed out guitars, As if Waltz is one of the record’s many highlights, effortlessly transitioning between gorgeous vocals and utterly hypnotising music that displays the sheer expertise of the record’s production. The Magician however is Greep’s magnum opus, which seems ludicrous to say after just one album release. Renditions of its many performances under black midi could be seen circulating online for years before their breakup, causing fans to wonder whether it would ever see the light of day altogether. Thankfully, Greep was granted custody of the masterpiece in the divorce of black midi.
Greep delves deep into the psyche of the record’s protagonist on the 12 minute song, and his anguish in holding his fragile relationship with the prostitute character together. Lyrically, it’s a bleak portrayal of desperation, but potentially also a tragic comeuppance for the protagonist. He sees himself imprisoned by his own ignorance of desire, women and sex, with Greep using elaborate analogies to display this: ‘Lure a fly to a blazing lamp, shut the lid tight and watch it dance about til it dies’. The song eventually crescendos with the protagonist’s uncompromising questioning of the value of his self altogether at the result of his crushing longing: ‘what’s left of the lover who doesn’t exist?’. The Magician ends the record on a subversive note, as Greep excellently evokes his listener to feel sympathetic to a character we once felt disdain and spite for. It’s a testament to the album’s narrative cohesiveness that plays out like a cinematic masterpiece in a way. Greep concludes the album by stripping back the mayhem that proceeds with a cover of Frank Sinatra’s ballad If You Are But A Dream; one last display of longing for the protagonist before the curtains close and the house lights come on.
The New Sound is not a one and done album by any means. Each track’s multifaceted segments and lyrical intricacies demands repeat listens, which is no small feat given its runtime of just over an hour. In some minds it could be considered far too pretentious or self-indulgent in this regard, as it does at times feel bloated with the amount of ideas it chooses to throw at the wall. But almost all of these ideas stick. What emerges at the end of it all, for those willing to experience it - as I have been so fortunate to relish in while writing this review - is a theatrical odyssey with audacious experimentation, and an unmistakable earnestness across the whole body of work that somehow defied my expectations as to what Geordie Greep was capable of. It never veers too far into absurdity, and instead favours to boldly fuse a plethora of genres: Latin, jazz, progressive rock, to meticulously craft what is surely to be the album of the year for many.
Luke Bower
Edited by Alice Beard
Official The New Sound LP cover and in article images courtesy of Geordie Greep, video courtesy of Geordie Greep on Youtube
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