Pere Ubu
Cloudland

It is difficult to review a complex, multifaceted, and much more mature work than its predecessors like this one. Even though the essence is on the same wavelength: surreal lyrics, a progressively heavier Thomas with a voice decidedly different from previous works (perhaps due to the different recording?).

Anyway, more than 10 years have passed since the infamous The Modern Dance, where with this little gem, Cloudland, Pere Ubu have abandoned the cacophonous and musically anarchic sounds, but they haven't neglected their pronounced surreal vein full of nonsense and literary figures dictated by the mind of David Thomas, in my opinion, a "small" genius.

The amusing thing about this album is precisely its "compactness." As soon as you start listening to it, you're swept away by the first track "Breath", like a sort of rogue wave that captures you and leaves you "breathless." And from the sweet and romantic refrain, almost like a sort of anthem, it is quite clear that Pere Ubu have changed almost entirely, and this is to be appreciated, as every artist should examine the desire to improve themselves and propose new sounds. Even though Cloudland still bears much of the typical '80s carefree sounds, there is always a slight veil of sadness and melancholy hiding everywhere, a typical characteristic of Thomas's mind.

The tracks follow one after the other in a sort of crescendo of joy and apparent calm, in which we see a playful Thomas at the peak of his vocal abilities in tracks like "Waiting For Mary" (a real anesthetic if you're feeling down) up to the end track "Pushin'" all accompanied by a sort of sound revolution and the abandonment of the past era's cacophonies.

Analytically, it's very simple to divert the ear from what is proposed in this work, as it's evident from the first notes that it's a much easier listening experience, and undoubtedly suitable even for those who cannot digest more complex and intricate sounds.

Thomas's sentimentality is as elevated and vast as ever, and like a child, he enjoys taking us on a sort of small psychedelic journey where the ultimate goal is carefree joy and the pursuit of happiness that seems to lie just around the corner. But like everything in everyday life, it is not achieved without waiting, without the effort and frustration of time that seems unwilling to pass, in the hope of reaching an absence of sadness and ultimate joy.

A work I recommend to everyone, to listen to attentively and otherwise. Even if it is irrelevant to label a work of this kind within a genre or musical context, it would end up consuming its seemingly distilled soul, but on the contrary, it is alive and experimental at its highest levels as only Pere Ubu can do.

Rock? Post Punk? Avantgarde?

What does it matter, listen and be silent.