dEUS
Vantage Point

We are not here to celebrate the career of a brilliant group; nothing is given away here even though they are in my personal Olympus.
Here we talk about a good product that will not move the nostalgics of Worst Case Scenario, In A Bar Under The Sea or Ideal Crash, but that will maintain high esteem especially from new aficionados.

So, hand to the pen (oh right, to the mouse).
Let's see ... I've digested the album ... I've just seen them live,  ... what else...  Ok, that should be enough to spend some words on one of the most representative groups of the indie rock scene, of all time.
Tom Barman, with lineup in tow (but not the historical one) visits Magazzini Generali (a location unworthy for its acoustics) three years after the splendid concert at the Rolling Stone (still in Milan) fresh from the launch of this Vantage Point, the successor of the excellent Pocket Revolution (2005).

Upon first listening, the work immediately reveals itself as linear, without transcending into peaks of eclecticism like the distant predecessors such as Worst Case Scenario and In A Bar, Under The Sea (two absolute masterpieces). "When she comes down" opens the dance, popping gracefully and rhythmically, with a spoken-sung performance by an inspired Barman. His warm and hoarse voice remains the soul of the group, devoid for years of the members who once filled everything with jazz strokes (those that have always distinguished the Belgian band). An honest first piece, without frills, deliberately redundant in the melody of the chorus that takes off without causing a racket, thanks to a perfect vocal interpretation. Supporting it, the guitars from syncopated to sprawling by Mauro Pawlowski and the synths of Klaas Janzoons faithfully follow the frontman's lines.

It’s the turn of "Oh your god", electric/electrifying pop-rock, from vigorous and intrusive to relaxed and harmonious, supported by the inevitable vocalizations of  Pawlowski and Gevaert. Here emerges a dEUSian instinct of deep roots, the one that juxtaposes a burst of energy with the inevitable melodic expanse, where nothing is left to chance but everything can be called into question.
"Eternal Woman" follows, the most subdued piece of a substantially well-marked, direct...electric work. The spelling out of a sweet and almost childish female voice accompanies Tom in this pleasant, unpretentious ballad, but one that gets into your head.
"Favorite Game" initially shook me,  but it’s one of those "MODERN dEUS" pieces that needs time to materialize. Live, it was unexpectedly sewn into the splendid and hypnotic "Theme From Turnpike," a piece from the days of "Barman under the sea."

Here comes "Slow", a piece that probably wanted to lead the work, but in the end, it rests too much on itself, revealing the too "human" part of these later dEUS, human because without those embellishments that surprisingly tattooed the chorus on your forehead. It transitions from the dark Slow to the funky "The architect", lively and fun, but in the long run, doesn't leave much to the listener except the realization that the piece is over. We're in the least brilliant phase of Vantage Point, the one that (in my opinion) starts from "Slow" and ends with "Is a robot" featuring some captivating passages but overall does not enchant, though the Belgian band’s obsessive quest for  sounds does have to be recognized.

"Smokers reflect", "The vanishing of Maria Schneider", and especially "Popular culture" take us a bit back to the past, with some small references perhaps self-referential yet absolutely effective.
And the head nods, the voices of dEUS envelop and do their job, what they've been doing for fifteen years to this day.

"Vantage Point" ends up being probably the group’s least inspired and significant work, but for this reason, not to be underestimated because it still has something to say. A contributing factor to the overall evaluation of this album is the absence of a real "leading" track.
But in the end, though not having talked about a huge work, I feel the need to tell you...

...long live bands like dEUS.