New-York based Brion Starr invites you to a nocturnal 1970s-influenced netherworld in this finely-crafted collection. The mood, the atmosphere, the production and the mix (Starr in cahoots with sonic legend Tony Visconti) are spot on – but are the songs of a high enough standard to make this night truly memorable? Let’s find out.
Solid rocker Morning Light opens with a simple piano riff to usher in what becomes something of a concept album, structured around a night out in a seemingly dystopian, sci-fi city soaked in a certain kind of louche decadence and with more than a hint of nostalgia (Brooklyn-born Visconti produced much of Bowie’s output in the ’70s, and beyond).
The Butler kicks-off with a simple bass figure and a good few of the songs will build from sparse, even staccato beginnings, some more successfully than others. Private Eye benefits from a driving bass line and a nice guitar solo. If you’re not yet impressed you might take a shine to Shine, which starts out funky then comes over all broody.
It’s Bowie time again as Blackout launches Brion’s shot at Fame and Lord, King, Guru, God or at the very least Viscount Visconti (also T Rex, Sparks, Thin Lizzy etc) helps keep the sound and style on point as this journey to the end of the night maintains its street cred, certainly more Céline than Celine Dion. There’s a great sense of togetherness and even camaraderie among the contributors (Visconti working his magic again?) and, by this stage, you may feel you want to be part of the gang.
21st Century Ltd (for Alice) is barely a song at all in terms of lyrics but is effective enough with drums and bass to the fore before becoming an extended piano work-out. Nocturne lifts the bar as burbling synths help get things going at last – NOW we’re out for the night with our Heroes! Then it’s On The Line with a seductive, gyrating groove but a case of foot off the gas after the relatively lively Nocturne. Rippling piano keys are again a big part of the vibe on the title song while track 10, Same Flame (Stay With Me), perhaps the best of the lot, is effectively sultry, Roxy and foxy.
Starr – aka Brian Kidd – demonstrates throughout he clearly has the bravado to pull off this ambitious concept and has more or less nailed the 70s aura (with a flavour of 80s post-punk, XTC and maybe The Only Ones thrown in). There’s an attractively insouciant swagger to the whole enterprise but the question always was, does he have the songs? On this evidence, in my opinion, it has to be no – but watch this space, remember the night and remember the name.
Sonic aficionados and production purists will be interested to know the album was recorded at the re-opened Chateau d’Herouville, about 40km from Paris, used by Bowie, Visconti and Brian Eno in the ’70s and home to several seminal albums including Low, Iggy Pop’s The Idiot, Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (and others) and Rainbow’s Long Live Rock ’n’ Roll.
A Night To Remember, by Brion Starr, is out on November 19 on Taxi Gauche Records.
