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Rating: He had left us with the dark and electronic songwriting of "Our Shadow Will Remain", an exceptional album plagued by distribution issues. Perhaps that's why Arthur, with his fifth album, is launching his own label. After two intense and feverish years, during which Arthur refined his craft, producing, arranging, and playing on two extraordinary records, with dazzling debuts like those of Tara Angell and Greg Connors, collaborations, unforgettable concerts, the publication of his first Art Book accompanied by an indispensable soundtrack titled "We Almost Made It", perfectly set between Byrne's electronic experimentalism and Gabriel's soundtracks.
"Nuclear daydream" carries with it all these experiences, distributed across 12 songs, simple, fascinating, and dark, stripped-down, almost skeletal to show all their bare enchantment, enveloping them in spiritualism and psychedelia.
All the songs are very catchy, and their structure is simple, but thanks to Arthur's precious arrangements, they manage to surprise and evolve with each listen, as in the case of the opening "Too Much To Hide" and the beautiful and ominous "Black Lexus". "Enough To Get Away" still bears the marks of the collaboration with Greg Connors and is a clear and unsettling song about the American dream. "Slide Away" is something between Prince and Bowie, just a little more acidic.
"You Are Free" is a superb psychedelic pop ballad, as are "Woman" and the lysergic spiritual of "Don't Tell Your Eyes". "Automatic Situation" closely recalls the most electronic moments of "Our Shadow Will Remain". Special mention for "Electrical Storm" and "Don't Give Up On People", two mutant and radioactive songs, hypnotic in their progression, blurred photographs of something that no longer exists, deeply beautiful and sad at the same time.
"When I Was Running Out Of Time" seems to have come out of 'Hunky Dory', genuinely beautiful supported by a great lyric and Arthur's formidable voice. The title track, a Dylan-esque ballad, closes the album, a song that is a boundary. It's something that ends, it's an intense emotion that, when it ends, leaves you empty, it's an atomic bomb of the soul, it's a nuclear hallucination.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Black Lexus (03:14)
Your black Lexus has
Two hundred thousand miles
Underneath the missing roads
You don't know where you're going
Almost anytime
Things lost just lighten up your load
Maybe you're headin' out
To LA
See if they'll put you in a show
First you'll check with the stars
Read both your sign and mine
In the back of the New York Post
You can't find her
You can't find her
In the mirror everything's reversed
And you can't find her
You can't find her
Everyday you feel a little curse
Now your car's been towed
You misread the sign
Something left to do
Must have slipped your mind
Got no money left
Guess you'll stick around
And anyway the stars
Said not to go right now
But you can't find her
You can't find her
In the mirror everything's reversed
And you can't find her
You can't find her
Everyday you look a little worse
You can't find her
You can't find her
In the mirror everything's reversed
You can't find her
You can't find her
Everyday you feel a little curse
You can't find her
You can't find her
In the mirror everything's reversed
You can't find her
You can't find her
Everyday you feel a little curse
05 Electrical Storm (04:50)
How do you live cold
Before you're young
You're so old
You're born and then you die
You're born and then you die
And you are born
Past the city and the thieves
Past the wolverines and trees
Until the sunrise
In the electrical storm
Last night with you
When we turned blue
I saw right through
When we turned blue
I can see you now
You are me
Anyhow
You're born and then you die
You're born and then you die
And you are born
Past the city and the thieves
Past the wolverines and trees
Until the sunrise
In the electrical storm
In the sunrise
In the sunrise
And we are born
In the electrical storm
In the sunrise
In the sunrise
And we are born
In the electrical storm
Last night with you
When we turned blue
Were you untrue
When we turned blue
When we turned blue
06 You Are Free (04:15)
Time is moving on
You and me
You and me
Suffering is gone
You are free
You are free
I know I let you down
Those days are over now
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
Time is moving on
You and me
You and me
Suffering is gone
You are free
You are free
I know I let you down
Those days are over now
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who you thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who you thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who you thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
I'm not afraid of nothing
I'm not afraid of anyone
I'm not afraid of losing myself
There ain't no self to lose
I'm not afraid of losing myself
There ain't no self to lose
I'm not afraid of losing myself
There ain't no self to lose
I'm not afraid
Time is moving on
You and me
You and me
Suffering is done
Let it be
Let it be
When you feel you're strong
You are free
You are free
08 When I Was Running Out of Time (03:01)
When I was running out of time
I turned it into a dream
And you went drifting into my mind
Things ain't the way that they seem
I turn you into a dream
And make it all go away
You know your hair looks different when you wear it that way
You've got a painted face and a body made of clay
You are my super star
They will fill you with big ideas
They'll hang your heart in the sky
I know you want to save the world
How long have you been that high
How long have you been that high
And did you make it all go away
You know your eyes look different when you look the other way
You've got a cheating heart bleeding emeralds everyday
You are a shooting star
Things ain't the same as when we was young
They hung us from shooting stars
Let's tell the world we're doing fine
I know how lucky we are
I know how lucky we are
To make it all go away
You know this world is topsy-turvy in days like today
We got a million souls looking for a place to stay
Each one a shooting star
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