Neneh Cherry- Blank Project (2014)

Neneh Cherry- Blank Project (2014)

After almost twenty years without action Neneh Cherry seems to be making up for all that time, as she came two years ago with the amazing That Cherry Thing, which teamed her up with the fierce free jazz trio The Thing, a record no one expected and which ended up as one of the greatest recordings of 2012, it came as a surprise to many, but not for me, as Cherry, the daughter of the great free jazzman Don Cherry, was a punk rocker, playing once with the Slits, and then became an experimental post punk goddess with Rip Pig & Panic, you can forget her dance recordings, those made her a pop star, but never reached the greatness of her early wild recordings.

Its amazing such a powerful background, that makes me think about someone like Bjork maybe, so it might be time for Neneh to finally meet with her true destiny, making daring pop recordings with the wild mixings of post punk, and Blank Project is the kind of recordings that undoubtedly will help her reach her true potential…again, and Across The Water comes out like a true shocking revelation, as Cherry actually ends up revamping her post punk roots, much in the way 2the punk brown” of Tricky put us in touch with so called “trip hop”, with the aid of Kieran Hebden, Cherry might be putting Trickys career to risk, as Cherry applies similar musical theories to practice and she applies them wisely, recreating that humid London, hazy and cold desolate street atmosphere.

Cherry is no one trick pony, as Blank Project hit us really hard, with a distorted and vibrating bass and powerful tribal beats, drumming becomes a strong vehicle, driving the song to new heights and speeds, with a lively sounds that makes matter even more exciting, as Cherry chants passionate words of love and hate, who would think that Cherry will end up as this year`s postmodernism great surprises, Bjork, Tricky and Beck, better start to do your homework.

Cherry dance past may come out a bit in naked, but this time the dance beats are almost skeletal and brutal, no rounded edges this time, as she sounds dangerous and full of soul, which again gives this song a strong street vibe, Cherry might be a star, but she remains well-grounded as a powerful performer who has sharpened her nails with the mighty The Thing, no small feat, and the powerful earth shattering bass in split Three Times might be enough replacement to the mighty trio fire breathing dynamics giving Cherry a rock bottom base for her vocal delivery, and Cherry returns to a sort of jazz flavored modern rock theme in Weightless, against strongly driven by bass and drums, reaching a territory at this time very well known by Cherry.

Cynical is a brutal percussion attack, again providing Cherry with a fierce backup volatile enough for Cherry to turn the fire on, suddenly turning into something more atmospheric in 422, which goes to create a hazy ambient, one where Cherry hides behind heavy clouds coming off the ground and the becoming again fierce on Out Of The Black, great showing for her and for Robyn, who accompanies Cherry for the gracious tune, which somehow manages to sound more uplifting than the rest of the recording.

Blank Project is a great vehicle to show off Cherry amazing versatility as a singer, as she travels gracefully thru the worlds of electronica, trip hop, jazz, soul and rock, and revisiting her dance days as in Dossier, a great postmodernist dance number that would make Bjork proud, as much as in Everything, another great postmodernist tune that manages to mix enough stuff for it to become almost unclassifiable, which I bet is Cherry main goal all along this impressive recording, a powerful artifact that carries a big message for the crowd, Cherry is back and stronger than ever, with her goals clearly set on reconquering her most experimental glories, she might not be a world known name at this point, but for the experimental crowd it won’t be long for her to become an obvious reference, Bjork, better watch out.