Marc Almond
The Velvet Trail

Not even a year has passed since I told you about "The Dancing Marquis" (I've become your official correspondent from planet Almond, what would you do without me?), and here I am again, punctual as a Swiss watch. The 2014 album, with only eight songs, raised some "suspicions" even back then, as Marc usually tends to be abundant; as expected, after the (tasty) appetizer, here comes the main course, "The Velvet Trail." Feelings? Many, plus a single, reassuring certainty. This album may be liked or disliked, for some it will just be simple craft, others may "miss" the intensity of his classics, but listening to it, one realizes a very important thing: Marc Almond has not fallen victim to himself, and this is not common. He changes, "softens," comes to terms with the passing years, and does so with the usual class.

So, "The Dancing Marquis" and now "The Velvet Trail"; with Marc, you never know, but it seems like the phase of theme albums, "Heart On Snow," "Stardom Road," "Orpheus In Exile," "Varietè," and "Feasting With Panthers," is now archived. Too bad, but as I said, c'est la vie. Anyway, it's really nice to hear all this brilliance; I can't read his mind, but what I perceive here is a serene, mature, and aware man who still enjoys making music... happy. Maybe it's just my rambling, but I see it this way: a great actor/interpreter like Marc Almond can bring angst and drama to the stage and does so divinely; in albums like "Orpheus...," "Varietè," and FWP, he portrayed characters and told stories; but this lightness, this serene and positive momentum I see as much more difficult to simulate, and after all, here he speaks of himself in the first person.

Musically, what can I say? A good performance, without a doubt: it starts with a symphonic intro, then four songs, another intro or interlude, and another four songs, repeats the same pattern a third time, and closes with an outro. A nice and clever idea that gives the album its own particular "rhythm," dividing it into three similar parts but with their own characteristics. In general, "The Velvet Trail" offers light, accessible, and well-packaged pop; those who know little or nothing of Marc Almond might appreciate and enjoy it much more than a long-time fan; I'm somewhere in between, a young fan, and for me, it works like this: I perfectly understand the gap with a "The Stars We Are" or with the still fresh "Feasting With Panthers," but I manage to frame it in a positive light. "The Velvet Trail" doesn't try at all to chase the glories of the past, it's not a tired and convoluted "Stranger Things" but an honest, pleasant album with a well-defined personality.

Anyone would understand that the songs on this album are not randomly placed; everything is perfectly balanced to create a sound that is both sophisticated and straightforward; just like its predecessor, but TDM was more lively and glam rock-oriented; "The Velvet Trail" favors more intimate tones and an almost perfect balance between slow and lively episodes. The melodic progression of a poignant "Scar", the sweet melancholy of "The Pain Of Never" and "Winter Sun" with its twilight poetry are the best examples of this mature and softened Marc Almond chansonnier of 2015: here the piano takes center stage, accompanying the artist's unmistakable voice; everything else (mainly synthesizers and strings) is just background, accompaniment. The title track, on the other hand, is a different story: here Marc relies entirely on electronics, creating an extremely delicate, dreamy, expansive ballad; a truly perfect closing, it really gives the idea of a soft sky-blue velvet path rising up to the stars.

"From London to Moscow, Morocco to Mars, in bars or bordellos, wherever you are, down dark alleyways in luxurious cars, from casbahs to cabarets, wherever you are, with dragon boys and geisha girls, in twilight zones or secret worlds searching for pleasure, for you": cheerful and eccentric, with a slight hint of self-irony, this is also the Marc Almond of "The Velvet Trail", and "Pleasure's Wherever You Are" is beautiful: a luminous and engaging piano-pop with an evergreen melody, it reminds me a bit of "Meet Me In My Dream" but the mood is more intimate and spontaneous, more effective in my opinion. "Bad To Me" starts the show with a lively and danceable vibe, an evolution of the sounds of "The Dancing Marquis" with a more refined taste in the arrangements; a desire for lightness, a pop vein that pulses lush in the glorious memories of youth from "Zipped Black Leather Jacket", in the eccentric and brilliant electro-orchestral fantasy of "Minotaur" and in the disengaged and almost playful vitality of "Demon Lover". There's also "When The Comet Comes": seeing next to the title "feat. Beth Ditto" made me break out in a cold sweat, I won't deny it, but, surprise surprise, the illustrious (illustrious!?) guest manages to maintain a certain dignity and doesn't cause any damage; a decent partner for a very lively and catchy piece; the aim was to add a bit of soul flavor to the song and a truly black singer (I also suggest a name, Billie Myers) would have surely done better, but heroes are forgiven everything.

"I'm a shapeshifting changeling, stop trying to assimilate me", in the end it's Marc himself who provides the key to understand and fully appreciate this album; not that this change is radical and bewildering, indeed, the "reminiscences" of this or that moment in his career are practically omnipresent, but everything is packaged so well and with such style that you almost don't even notice. Sometimes a refined crooner, other times a brilliant pop/glam showman, this Marc Almond is an artist who has found his ideal balance: for him modernity is not an obsession, he has no need to keep up with the times but is still capable of renewing himself, the past regenerates but never replicates itself sterilely. My Marc has aged extremely well, I think of a lot of people who are already moldy and withered by their second album, yet after so many years of a top-level career, he still holds strong, continuing down his path. And this, my dear gentlemen, is what it means to be truly great.