Joe Jackson
Night Music

Joe Jackson has never been afraid to experiment with new sounds and to change his style with each new release, and even when his albums could be identified in a "pop-rock" style (which is really limiting for him), it's hard not to be taken aback by the vast diversity that separates the writing, arrangement, and production styles of his various projects. If the debut of "Look Sharp!" (1979) seemed to confuse him with many other new wavers of that period, already "Beat Crazy" (1980) took him far from those atmospheres, immersing him in a rock with reggae overtones that was hard to label. Similarly hard to label was the great masterpiece he produced in 1982, "Night and Day", which blended pop and classical music with Latin and jazz. "Big World", in 1986, moved him toward a pop-rock of a more seemingly traditional structure, still light-years away from the style of the masterpiece "Night and Day". "Blaze of Glory", at the end of the '80s, was somewhat a summary of all the styles reviewed up to that point, but softened with a new compositional feeling and completely different arrangements from the past. The same amalgam of styles was also present in the subsequent "Laughter and Lust" (1991), yet once again it seemed like listening to a new author, light-years away even from the previous record.

For this reason, Joe Jackson has always been my favorite pop-rock author, for his absolute unpredictability (in addition to his compositional greatness), and the album "Night Music" (year of grace 1994) is no exception; indeed, it is perhaps his most courageous stroke (at least up to that point).

"Night Music" arrived at a time when the great English author's career was declining in sales.

"Night and Day" (1982) had been his biggest commercial success, the subsequent albums had done well, but progressively Jackson had lost some audience, and when in 1991 he released "Laughter and Lust" (which would be his last pop-rock album for more than a decade) Joe Jackson was tired of that world made solely of singles and sales charts, and thus Jackson fell into a deep depressive crisis (as he tells in detail in his autobiography "A Cure for Gravity", which I invite everyone to read). He could no longer write anything, and his continuous effort to find a hit single had made him hate music. He could no longer compose pop songs and hated the world of music videos (as he had already declared in 1982: "Music videos kill music").

Thus, he began to compose without thinking about sales charts, and "Night Music" emerged. An album that completely detaches from what he had done before. There are no guitars, there is nothing "rock" in this album.

There is a Joe Jackson who decides not to follow trends (something he rarely did even in the previous decade), stops chasing success at all costs, and decides to do only what he wants to do, and "Night Music" is a masterpiece. A perfect album, his best (up to that point) alongside "Night and Day" (and the instrumental "Will Power", though not as perfect as this "Night Music").

It starts with "Nocturne no 1", an instrumental piece of immense and poignant beauty. Piano and violins take us by the hand on a dreamy journey into a fairy-tale world, the gentle, classical, almost "new-age" world of the new Joe Jackson.

In "Flying", the author's voice almost speaks, whispers:

"The older I get, the more I feel stupid.

I don't understand what's going on.

I'm tired of trying to be strong

and I just want to cry."

"Flying" is thus the portrait of an author who lays bare, drops the mask, and talks about the depression he went through, the loss of faith, and the struggle to regain self-confidence:

"The older I get, the more I feel clear.

Let it go and let it come."

Then comes another high-level piece, "EVER AFTER", a piece that again talks about a state of bewilderment and sadness, the end of a love relationship, and where Joe Jackson's voice pairs with the voice of Tylor Carpenter, a twelve-year-old girl with a sweet and angelic voice.

The piece transports into a dreamy, ethereal atmosphere of great sentiment, while Joe sings:
"After all the laughter

and all the pain... why don't I cry?
Why don't I laugh. In the end, it's the same.

Now that you're gone, everything is going wrong..."

The next piece is another instrumental, "NOCTURNE NO.2 ", another nocturne for piano. The piece is very beautiful, although not on par with the first opening instrumental.

Then comes "THE MAN WHO WROTE DANNY BOY".

An extraordinary piece, one of those pieces that make you understand how high an author can reach, both compositionally and interpretatively.

The piece talks about a pact with the devil:

"It happened one night, at 3 am, the devil appeared in my room and said: I will be your guide."

Jackson sings with exceptional passion. The piece is slow and hypnotic, and Jackson continues his story:
"I told the devil my desire to live through all times,

in some magical space, like the man who wrote Danny Boy...

then I seemed to hear a loud sound in the distance,

of drunk singing and whiskey, and then laughter and applause...

maybe we're all living in a dream, but I'll leave

and you'll see me... I'll be in the dark,

down below,

with Shakespeare and Bach and the man who wrote 'Danny Boy'

A stunning song.

The next piece, "NOCTURNE NO. 3", is another masterpiece, another instrumental piece of exceptional beauty and depth.

Then comes "LULLABY", another slow and beautiful piece. It feels like being in a snowy field with the voice of opera singer "Renée Fleming" entering your heart; then comes Joe Jackson's voice, whispering in a warm and unusual tone for the author:

"I could stay or leave through the door.

And while the pen writes, I could watch the stars.

A note is sleeping.

The moon rises cold in the sky,

like a tin fragment."

A very poetic text, like a kind of poetry about solitude that concludes in a rather shocking way,

as if it were a vision of one's own death:
"My fingers will break

like pieces of ice

and finally, my eyes will lie bright and lifeless

in a field of snow."

The next track is "ONLY THE FUTURE".

The melody is beautiful, airy, full of hope, and Joe Jackson's voice is inspired as always:

"Something's coming,

something big,

something I can't comprehend.

Dark as the ocean,

secret and cruel.

Something I can't command...

it's only the future."

The two concluding tracks are another beautiful instrumental, "NOCTURNE NO 4", and then "SEA OF SECRETS", a track with an enchanting melody on which Joe Jackson's incredibly touching voice unfolds:
"I'm sinking in a sea of secrets,

warm and green.

Down and down again,

back to times and places never seen...

through the rain

I can glimpse an emerging whiteness,

under the skin of the world...

I'm sinking

without fear of drowning,

and these monsters will go away.

They are only masks I don't wear during the day...

Now I will wake up

and in the mirror, I will see demons

transforming into friends.

Through the pain

I will capture a little mystery,

under the skin of the world."

Therefore, "NIGHT MUSIC" is a journey through the depression of the initial songs, the bewilderment, the end of love, carrying forward a search for happiness also sought in a pact with the devil, to live eternally.

There is then the vision of one's own death, like a macabre dream

(in "Lullaby"),

finally, there is a vision of the future, which is almost frightening. The mystery of what will come.

The conclusion is instead a reconciliation with oneself, coming to terms with one's inner demons, which finally and magically transform into friends.

Music criticism once again is divided on this work, although many consider it a new masterpiece,

like "Q MAGAZINE" (an English magazine) which places it among the best albums of the year.

The sales, as was predictable, are not great, although the album reaches number 64 in the Dutch charts.

In conclusion, an album to be savored in all its nuances.

An album made of very ethereal, rarefied sounds, close to classical and new-age. It's a very inspired Joe Jackson, capable of surprising, as always.

A masterpiece of class and refinement.