(2015) Jono McCleery - Pagodes
Review:
Jono McCleery may well be a name that is familiar to you. After all, the vocalist aided Portico on their enthralling recent LP and has previously worked with a host of other artists. McCleery has a relaxed, un-rushed temperament, with each song seeming to tumble out in a sweetly poetic fashion.
The Rotterdam-based singer songwriter has produced his definitive album. Pagodes is the deepest, most powerful work to date by a musician whose work has been described as like “Miles Davis, Massive Attack, John Martyn, Fink, and Radiohead wrapped up in one exquisitely produced sound.”
Several years of hard work making Pagodes has paid off in spades. It’s an album that’s difficult to turn away from, full of beautiful melody, futuristic production flourishes and lyrics that don’t shy away from darkness, but always alight on uplifting conclusion.
Opener “This Idea of Us” is a smouldering torch ballad, its string arrangement lending it gripping drama. Robert Wyatt’s “Age of Self” comes off as a song McCleery was born to sing, its lyrical content as relevant today as it was 30 years ago. The album moves into infectious percussive swing and melodic loops with “Ballade,” a song that could have come from the LA-jazz hotbed surrounding Flying Lotus.
Pagodes marries all of this thrilling diversity via McCleery’s existential musings and his startling voice and playing. It’s unlikely you’ll hear an album of such power from another singer songwriter anytime soon.
Rating 8/10
Tracklist:
01. This Idea Of Us.flac
02. Age Of Self.flac
03. Since I.flac
04. Painted Blue.flac
05. Ballade.flac
06. Clarity.flac
07. Halfway.flac
08. Bet She Does.flac
09. Fire In My Hands.flac
10. Desperate Measure.flac
11. Pardon Me.flac
12. So Long.flac
Summary:
Country: UK
Genre: Indie-Folk
Media Report:
Source : CD
Format : FLAC
Format/Info : Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : ~663-824 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
