James Iha
Let It Come Down

SONGS LIKE BLADES OF GRASS
or the bittersweet folk of the third wheel

Good morning and welcome to the Attic Of Records That Didn't Make History. Hidden on a shelf, under piles of dust, mistakenly inserted between Bowie's "Man Of Words, Man Of Music" and Lou Reed's "Set The Twilight Reeling", you'll find this "Let It Come Down", signed by Isobel Campbell's new guitarist, James Iha (oh, I forgot: ex-Smashing Pumpkins, Vanessa and the O's, A Perfect Circle...)

"Let It Come Down" could never make history because it's the complete opposite of what the average Pumpkins and alternative music listener wanted to hear. Forget the dark atmospheres or nervous guitar bursts of the Chicago band; here we have in hand a characteristic album of ballads somehow nestled between country-folk and new-acoustic.

James's solo debut is made of the sun's rays that illuminate his humble face on the cover. There are the clean and jingle-jangle guitars that already marked his style in Mellon Collie, in the shining "One And Two" there are D'Arcy's crystalline choirs, former pumpkin partner, but above all, there is the bittersweet voice of the Japanese-American singer.
And we need nothing else because the album perfectly conveys the atmospheres the artist wants to communicate to us, those that can be felt in the countryside air when spring begins to blow, and the warmer rays peek through the branches.

If you listen to this CD without expectations or prejudices, songs like "Be Strong Now," "Jealousy," "Beauty," and "Country Girl" will give us minutes of vague and simple joy; "Sound Of Love," "Silver String," and "No One's Gonna Hurt You" will never make us shed a tear, but the desire for caresses might cross our face for a moment... unfortunately, "See The Sun" and "Lover, Lover" will also bring some yawns.

In 1997, James Iha had the will and courage to distance himself as much as possible from Billy Corgan's overwhelming ego, who had devoured everyone in Mellon Collie, composing sunny and light-hearted songs without a trace of experimentation, almost created on purpose to give the eardrums and mind a rest between Pumpkins albums.

from "Sound Of Love":

The sound of love is passing as city's decay
and people always searching a lonely disease
and overrunnung run right to me babe
i swear that this love is strong
it's gonna carry me and over this dream and every desire...

PS: I like to consider "Let It Come Down" an extreme act, like Bowie's Tin Machine, or Zwan; in any case, there are moments when I manage to appreciate it more than Corgan's first solo attempt...