Brian Eno
Making Space

We last saw him with "Small Craft On a Milk Sea", a spontaneous and improvised collaboration with loyal companions Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams (who have supported him for years in place of Lanois, who has now firmly set his career on the tracks of a new music production master rather than a student). The album was overly convincing while exploring territories Eno rules over (ambient and related fields), but left more than a doubt when it ventured into certain dark, hard-to-define jungle-like areas (ethnic-electrofunk-tribal-drum'n'bass-glitch) that seemed like an intrusion into a territory that doesn't belong to Eno (and the two collaborators were not quite able to fill the gaps in that kind of music).

This "Making Space" actually dates back to a few months before the release of "Small Craft", and is yet another of those CDs recorded and composed as a backdrop for audiovisual installations that the versatile artist has recently focused on (in this case, the soundtrack is for a visual art exhibit titled 77 Million Paintings that he has been showcasing in museums for about 5 years now, for which a DVD with images - available on enoshop - and a promo, 77 Million, had already been released, hinting at something promising for a potential full album). But, while the previous installation-CDs seemed like tiring exercises in style (with exceptions), here we have an authentic exception. "Making Space" is an ambient album, entirely this time, although there is a pinch of experimentation involved, and, given the skillful dosage, it even manages to make Eno capable, in 2010 (the release date), of renewing the formula he coined in '75 with "Discreet Music" and composed and written four years later with the first "Ambient", the historic and monumental "Music For Airports". 

Let's not misunderstand, "Making Space" is not the album that will revolutionize the genre or Eno's career: however, it is, after about a decade of creative stagnation (with the exception of "I Dormienti") and variations on a well-established theme, which was starting to become almost tiresome and look like reheated soup, a great album, where that formula is brought to an advanced stage and renewed in many ways, enough to sound brilliantly in tune with current times. Certainly, however, it neither surpasses nor prevents such times, but from a now 65-year-old who experienced those times decades ahead in the '70s and '80s, it is fair to expect something that aligns with the times: the important thing is that it does not appear awkward. And this album stands out excellently.

It starts with Needle Click, where some timid percussion sets the background for an engaging synth melody that constantly repeats the same musical phrase (the only flaw is that the latter sounds slightly Jarre-esque). Then comes the dark music box of Light Legs, which once again repeats the same phrase before fading into Flora and Fauna/Gleise 581d, reminiscent of collaborations with Fripp: a piano, once again minimal in great Eno tradition, with Leo Abrahams' treated guitars in the background (yes, he's here too!); in the second part of the track, a few synth notes accompany the piano. It's probably an initial demo that would later lead to the production of two tracks for Small Craft (the title-track and the finale Late Anthropocene). In New Moons, also a likely demo (the bells are the same used in Calcium Needles), Abrahams' guitar takes center stage, even more so than the synths, which are reduced to a background sound: it is one of the most successful episodes of the entire album, once again nostalgic of collaborations with King Crimson (a similar track could have overshadowed the others if included in Evening Star). Vanadium is another essay on the fusion between intimate percussion (this time a drum machine) and ambient synth lines, but it leaves a bit too much of a feeling of being a b-side, suitable for Curiosities: nonetheless, it does not spoil the atmosphere of the album in any way and is superior by leaps and bounds to what is found in Small Craft. All The Stars Were Out is another highly successful track: the atmosphere is dictated by an electronic background with a most delicate melody played by an electric piano: we are in the presence of the best Eno since the '80s, especially melodically. Hopeful Timean Interseet is the ambient track par excellence: it could easily have been extracted from the Plateaux of Mirror sessions, with the addition of Abrahams on treated guitar, who here also seems like an exact cardboard copy of Fripp (without his distinctive style). World Without Mind continues on the same sounds as its predecessor, perhaps a bit less immediate, but always of a grand atmosphere. It closes, finally, with the absolute masterpiece: it's titled Delightful Universe (seen from above): an atmospheric start à-la 2/1 from Airports, then continues with a progressive crescendo introducing a myriad of overlapping synths, an electronic organ, and finally a synthetic choir: it is a true anthem to the innovation of the Eno-formula, highly successful, possibly the only episode of the album that foreshadows the times, and probably one of the most beautiful tracks ever from Our Artist.

In conclusion, from this album, it can be deduced that those who feared the premature death of Eno's creative genius were profoundly mistaken: certainly, after years as an innovator, he has handed over the baton (to whom, to be honest, is unfortunately unknown, as there are very few innovators in today's music, and the few there are hit the first and sometimes the second album and then get lost in creative nothingness), but, if pushed to the utmost of his capabilities, our artist is still able to provide us with enlightening albums in step with the times he himself has traversed and shaped; in a good album, finally, he is still capable of creating a track that shines with its own new light. Too bad this reaching his peak is now a more unique than rare episode, but when it's there, let's enjoy it. Recommended for everyone: lovers of the genre, lovers of Eno, lovers of electronics in general; don't be misled by the fact that it's a soundtrack for an installation, it's still an excellent album (with, I won't stop emphasizing, a final track that's mind-blowing) and perhaps Eno's best since the times of, perhaps, Neroli (which I didn't quite like that much either).

Technical note: the album is for sale in a limited edition only on the website of the museum that hosted Eno's last installation (77 Million Paintings), the Lumen London. It will be sent to your home along with postcards depicting some of Eno's most significant visual works (which are beautiful, by the way).

Scores: 7/10 for the entire album, 9/10 for Delightful Universe; OVERALL SCORE 8/10.