Barry Adamson- Know where to Run (2016)

Barry Adamson- Know where to Run (2016)

By: Ghost Writer

In Other Worlds, the opening track from Barry Adamson's new recording called Know Where to Run starts with an ultra-dark keyboard riff, it reminds me certainly of the legendary goth metal band Type O Negative, although it quickly turns into something else, no less dark but more sophisticated, and in Adamson's tradition, more cinematic, it's even close to some music made by the great Italian band Goblin, but it ends in a quite amusing chaotic way, like a midnight ride finally crashing against a wall, welcome to the night world of Barry Adamson.

Adamson musical curriculum is nearly spectacular, a man who started in music in the middle of the punk age in England, too sophisticated to be a mere punk rocker, he took the bass and played with the influential post punk band Magazine, a group of amazing musicians decided to push all the boundaries in punk rock and take the genre far beyond, taking cues from Germany's krautrock, and American funk, Magazine became, along Wire, post punk's thinking man group, a band whose tremendous impact would set the stage for today's great acts like Radiohead or Muse, but Adamson's career didn't end up there, always relentless, Barry went on to play with another groundbreaking bunch of musicians called the Bad Seed along with the great Nick Cave.

Adamson's solo career has been an interesting one, working close with cinema he has been involved in projects along people like cinema's master David Lynch, some solo recordings dwelling in between the worlds of jazz, electronica and funk have given Adamson lots of experience and growth as a musician, rounding his approach and helping him become a powerful act all on his own.

Cine City is a loud and dissonant tune with Adamson bass treatments creating the base and letting Barry confidently grow also as a singer, the song is pretty upbeat with Adamson's voice resounding heavy, accompanied with a powerful and dense musical arrangement that put Adamson in a league close to another post punk legend, Mark Stewart, of the legendary Pop Group.

Adamson goes into more reflective mood for Come Away, a song that wouldn't be out of place in a Nick Cave record, showing how important has been Adamson in the creation of the Bad Seeds distinctive sound, that before getting back on track on the hard hitting darkly humorous Death Takes a Holiday, paving the way for the all-out stomp of Texas Crash, where Adamson's affinity for our there electronica is exposed along serious deviation into smoke filled jazz, proving generously Adamson's intrepid arrangements and unexpected musical turns.

Adamson seems to play a little with his musical baggage on the Magazine meets Nick Cave of Up in the Air, another remarkable highlight in this impressive recording, a great reminder of how great Adamson's solo music can be, and a how much his talent has helped his former bands to create monumental and groundbreaking music.