Geike
For the Beauty of Confusion

Geike Arnaert was THE singer of Hooverphonic, with her they grew up, they began to shape a personal style with "Blue Wonder Power Milk", then came "Magnificent Tree", "Hooverphonic Present Jackie Cane" and "No More Sweet Music": a star was born, a group capable of offering refined, intense, intelligent, and never banal pop, wonderful songs, suggestive atmospheres, and melodies worthy of an anthology. Geike Arnaert was a frontwoman of great class but this wasn't enough for her: she wanted to carve out her role in the songwriting and artistic direction process of the band, but was not granted it; "they wanted me pretty and mute," recounts a bitter and disillusioned Geike, implying an undercurrent of sexism against her, which led to a slow deterioration in her relationship with the rest of Hooverphonic, particularly with leader Alex Callier. And so, after "The President Of The LSD Golf Club," an album as ambitious as it was generally tired and inconclusive, Geike calls it quits.

This is one of those cases where I feel like taking a clear stance: I am 100% with Geike, first and foremost humanly and then artistically. Today's Hooverphonic is nothing more than a very pale shadow of themselves, the insipid and even irritating single "Anger Never Dies" remains a testament to the decline and failure of Alex Callier, an emblem of a new course based on bland, pretentious and soulless pop, as well as the obvious mediocrity of a new frontwoman perfectly in line with the general trend. Geike instead starts from scratch, with courage, pride, and determination, without a major label backing her and consequently without the possibility of adequate international promotion, but for the Flemish singer, this is not a problem, her music speaks for her and her solo debut surpasses without appeal all the junk produced by her ex-group from 2010 to today. "For The Beauty Of Confusion" is a Geike Arnaert record in every way, not a pale spin-off of what Hooverphonic once was; of course, there are reminiscences, and after all, the proposed genre is the same, but more than the golden era of 2000-2005, FTBOC refers back to "Blue Wonder Power Milk" and "The President Of The LSD Golf Club," even proving to be decidedly superior to both.

Solo Geike leaves behind those scenic orchestrations that were Alex Callier's trademark and one of Hooverphonic's winning features, turning to a more strictly electronic sound, with trip-hop and psychedelic inflections; "For The Beauty Of Confusion" is not an immediate album, it requires concentration, the right mood, and a keen ear to be fully appreciated, and it does not have a disruptive single on the level of "Mad About You" or "We All Float," but it is nevertheless a debut of substantial substance, personality, and quality. A very reflective, introspective, almost introverted album, slow rhythms and lingering atmospheres prevail, but Geike has not entirely given up on the theatricality of Hooverphonic and manages to find balance by offering a perfectly balanced and fluid album that never bores and allows her to fully exploit her silky and rarely elegant voice. The most suggestive moments largely coincide with the ballads, particularly "Night Time Round Here", with its dreamy, fairytale atmosphere and light and delicate folk/electronic musicality perfect as a backdrop for a peaceful summer evening in the open countryside, but also "Strange Disorder" with its hypnotic rhythms and a sensual and cerebral charm at the same time, "107 Windows", a sober and painful piano-ballad enriched by a very emotional declamatory singing and the melodic reverberations of "Smile", a sound rich in oriental and psychedelic taste, that treasures the lessons of "LSD Golf Club" with an approach less focused on appearance and more on substance. "For The Beauty Of Confusion", the title track, stands out for its electronic softness and sobriety and ideally relates to the '90s sound of the golden age of trip-hop, as does the very elegant "Icy" with its arpeggios and an ecstatic and relaxed sensuality faintly reminiscent of "Waves," a great Hooverphonic classic and "You Don't Have To", melody and rhythms in Olive style that hint at soul.

In some episodes, the emotional tension and not exactly idyllic background on which this album was born are clearly perceived, especially "Blinded", with its bitter and theatrical chorus that sounds like a liberating outburst and "In Gold", tribal rhythms, declamatory singing, restless atmospheres, nervous and unpredictable progression. "Rope Dancer", on the other hand, tries to insert itself in the wake of Bel canto from "Magic Box" with sinuous orchestrations in the background and decisive rhythms, while "This Page" relies on electric guitar to reinforce its charming and almost danceable rhythms, steering towards electro-rock sounds. Geike Arnaert has made full use of all her talent, her voice, and above all her creativity, "For The Beauty Of Confusion" excellently proposes a wide range of moods, influences, and sounds and, in addition to delivering a technical KO for apparent superiority to her ex-adventure companions, it suggests that, if she had only been treated with the respect and consideration she deserved, the star of Hooverphonic would still be shining.

But now there is no point in looking back, Geike has demonstrated she can stand on her own two feet and hopefully this debut is just the beginning of a solid and lasting independent path.