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David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto are always described as two complementary artists, as if one contributed to enhancing the other's career and vice versa.
But it is not so, in my opinion Sylvian was nothing more than a tool skillfully used by Sakamoto.
It is no coincidence that I read today that Sylvian's solo career was indeed encouraged by Sakamoto. That there is a sea separating the two is something I say knowingly, after having seen both live.
Sakamoto himself was aware that Sylvian was a good composer and nothing more, and that his solo career without excellent collaborations would surely have failed.
However, Sylvian has something unique, he has a warm and soothing voice, an elegant and rarefied appearance that goes beyond the "dandy": he is perhaps the very essence of the "dandy", with his vaguely retro style of an ambiguous gentleman. Sylvian is also ambitious and loves experimentation, something he has already demonstrated with Japan.
It is from the collaboration between these two artists that "Secrets Of The Beehive" is born. The album is almost entirely acoustic, the arrangements are handled by Sakamoto, and the singing takes the lead.
Sylvian seems to take us on a journey, at sunset, into autumnal melancholy: it is no coincidence that "September" opens the album The sun shines high above / The sounds of laughter / The birds swoop down upon / The crosses of old grey churches / We say that we're in love / While secretly wishing for rain and "Forbidden Colors" closes it My love wears forbidden colours / My life believes in you once again / I'll go walking in circles / While doubting the very ground beneath me / Trying to show unquestioning faith in everything / Here am I, a lifetime away from you.
Between these two marvelous spaces, the reasons for excitement are numerous, the transport of "Orpheus" or the movement of "When Poets Dreamed Of Angels," for example. A masterpiece whose review I would like to see appear in the "evergreen" section when one day it will be on DE-Baser.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 September (01:18)
The sun shines high above
The sounds of laughter
The birds swoop down upon
The crosses of old grey churches
We say that we're in love
While secretly wishing for rain
Sipping coke and playing games
September's here again
September's here again
04 Orpheus (04:51)
Standing firm on this stony ground
The wind blows hard
Pulls these clothes around
I harbour all the same worries as most
The temptations to leave or to give up the ghost
I wrestle with an outlook on life
That shifts between darkness and shadowy light
I struggle with words for fear that they'll hear
But Orpheus sleeps on his back still dead to the world
Sunlight falls, my wings open wide
There's a beauty here I cannot deny
And bottles that tumble and crash on the stairs
Are just so many people I knew never cared
Down below on the wreck of the ship
Are a stronghold of pleasures I couldn't regret
But the baggage is swallowed up by the tide
As Orpheus keeps to his promise and stays by my side
Tell me, I've still a lot to learn
Understand, these fires never stop
Believe me, when this joke is tired of laughing
I will hear the promise of my Orpheus sing
Sleepers sleep as we row the boat
Just you the weather and I gave up hope
But all of the hurdles that fell in our laps
Were fuel for the fire and straw for our backs
Still the voices have stories to tell
Of the power struggles in heaven and hell
But we feel secure against such mighty dreams
As Orpheus sings of the promise tomorrow may bring
Tell me, I've still a lot to learn
Understand, these fires never stop
Please believe, when this joke is tired of laughing
I will hear the promise of my Orpheus sing
09 Waterfront (03:23)
On the banks of a sunset beach
Messages scratched in sand
Beneath a roaming home of stars
Young boys try their hand
A spanish harbouring of sorts
In Catalonian bars
They were pulled from a sinking ship
And saved for last
On the waterfront the rain
Is pouring in my heart
Here the memories come in waves
Raking in the lost and found of years
And though I'd like to laugh
At all the things that led me on
Somehow the stigma still remains
Watch the train steam full ahead
As it takes the bend
Empty carriages lose their tracks
And tumble to their end
So the world shrinks drop by drop
As the wine goes to your head
Swollen angels point and laugh
"This time your god is dead"
On the waterfront the rain
Is pouring in my heart
Here the memories come in waves
Raking in the lost and found of years
And though I'd like to laugh
At all the things that led me on
Somehow the stigma still remains
Is our love strong enough?
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Other reviews
By Socrates
Sylvian works by subtraction, and silence and pauses are essential elements of the musical syntax of 'Secrets.'
'Secrets of the Beehive' should be revealed only to those who can appreciate them; to those who are not afraid to be alone with themselves.
