Lloyd Cole
Antidepressant

THE REVIEW

Finally, here it is, three years after the last solo album Lloyd Cole's latest little creation "Antidepressant" has arrived.

An eloquent pop artist who, in my opinion, always deserves a front-row red seat, for more than twenty years he has always found a place in the audience, but perhaps "fortunately" not in the mass stadium crowd, appreciated only by a refined and attentive palate that has always managed to savor and quantify his simplicity as well as the sophistication of truly unique and personal melodies like his voice itself. Not overly criticized for his genre, but truly neglected, his musical credibility has never been questioned, yet he has been veiled in misfortune for not being perceived by many in his total melodic nuances. In any case, my modest opinion is that Lloyd has produced small great warm perceptual masterpieces.

"Antidepressant," as Lloyd himself says, is "an antidepressant, a pill that makes you feel better, but its very existence signifies the existence of ongoing depression" whatever the pathology of this depression may be, it's all to be evaluated, perhaps for the constant thought of fleeting age, or for needless misunderstandings, or for loneliness, or for lack of happiness, or for too much naivety embroiled in inevitable peripheral pain, or for killer silences, or for pride and selfishness, or for broken hearts trying to understand each other, or for sleepless nights killed by wearing thoughts, or for remaining, perhaps voluntarily, adolescents bearing open wounds and indelible scars, etc. etc. etc. So, to help his loyal patients suffering from this serious pathology, Dr. Lloyd, with his musical prescription, recommends a daily, calibrated, and constant dose to be consumed at any time of the day even on an empty stomach; the important thing is that the volume is at maximum to better feel the immediate effects, an album of eleven antidepressant tablets that, without any pretensions of healing, will help curb palpitations and heartache, is already available in the finest and most stocked musical pharmacies worldwide.

Rich, fresh, pleasant, expressive melodies, always intelligently and wisely pondered in a fragile and velvety mix with a view to achieving a result of joyful carefree ness during times of actual sadness, help reveal the joys that are not always so visible to the naked eye. Acoustic guitars, delicately instrumental rhythms, piano that caresses cellos, violins and bells as in "I Didn't See It Coming"? not to mention the extraordinary "How Wrong Can You Be?" folk-rock which is of infinite beauty, the inimitable voice accompanying acoustic guitar and piano fully immersed in a bucket overflowing with joy and love, or like the rhythmic folk-country "Everysong" with its insistent harmonica, guitar and choir, or the amazing "Woman In A Bar" with a chorus that’s a pure gem and the violin protects and shelters the voice maternally, or the showcase of the sensitive and infinite closing track "Rolodex Incident" a sad piano and regretful keyboard introducing a dream spanning eternity, in essence, all tracks are ready to emerge from their cocoons and soar like a breath of wind leaving a concrete and tangible impression on one's self.

Warning, read carefully the "apparently illustrative and demonstrative" leaflet, do not exceed the recommended dosage as wonderful and long-desired side effects may occur and, of course, keep out of reach of "apparently" grown adults.