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Rating: The change in pace for Humpty Dumpty is all in "To quote a bromide"; no longer does the author produce for himself and for the few seekers of oddities like him. The 2004 album asserts itself rather as a spreading entity, with its author electing himself as a sculptor of soft pop-folk celebrations, songs upon which the night has deposited a delicate layer of dew.
The low-fi unfolds into a miracle: imperfection and remoteness are reabsorbed into a blur that grants magic to the arpeggios graced by the classical charm of "An egg" and "Seemingly", whose faint falsetto is to be considered among the truly metaphysical touches of our artist.
But it is perhaps in the psychedelic ballad that Humpty Dumpty reaches the peak of bucolic charm: "That sweet bosom" and the superb "Tomorrow to today" (adorned with an insidious sitar) are absolute gems, immersed in the indolent haze of pure inspiration, spells of melody and arrangement.
The eight gems of "To quote a bromide", including the Teutonic divider of "Why do I survive forever" and the Residents-like deviant Barrettism of "World's end", achieve an overall balance that is truly magnificent, and the restraint (which is the distinctive trait of the work) of its sparse overdubs makes TQAB the most intangible and intimate work of the author, yet with no detriment to its accessibility.
In summary: "To quote a bromide" condenses the insights of "River flows" and turns them into an adamantine folk, with a heart throbbing with pop and esotericism. The patterns are simple, the spirit is light, the melodies open up visions of touching sweetness. And all of this as if there was no need for it.
The absolute masterpiece of Humpty Dumpty.
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