The Blue Nile
High

THE REVIEW

If I had to point out the best representative of that so-called "turtle" movement, to which Peter Gabriel and David Sylvian also rightfully belong, my choice would inevitably fall on the Scotsman Paul Buchanan, voice and soul of The Blue Nile.
Almost twenty-four years of career and only four (!) albums, eight years on average between one work and another. Jurassic times for a music market that burns its idols at the same speed with which it creates them. But Buchanan, unafraid of being forgotten and trusting in the resilient core of his resigned fans, steadfastly follows his own rhythms, his meticulous attention to detail, the slow maturation of his songs; writing many, as he claims, but only a few manage to pass the razor of relentless self-criticism.

When many were beginning to think that the long periods required by his excessive perfectionism had definitively closed the doors of the music biz to him or led to a nervous breakdown without return, High appears; and so the gigantic hourglass can be turned over once again.
Even this time, there are no significant changes. After all, it is pointless to expect revolutions from someone who, with almost monastic dedication, is devoted to achieving the ideal pop song. So, like other great artists, Buchanan varies on the theme, chiseling and refining what may seem to many the same song pattern.
The nine tracks of the album are yet another attempt to hit the target, and even this time, as with Hats, he comes damn close. They are immersed in that magnificent melancholy well known to those who have had a chance to listen to other works: sparse electronics, slow-motion drum machines, the guitar or electric piano weaving the melody, Paul’s unmistakable voice giving body to the never banal lyrics, often true "tranches de vie".
Lyrics "forbidden to minors", and not for the reason you think, but because the issues, the themes can be appreciated and enjoyed only by those who have known the joys, the crises, the torments of couple life. Listening to tracks like "The Days of Your Lives" or "High", images of some films by Antonioni and Bergman came to mind, with their central themes of incommunicability and the contradictions of romantic relationships.

An album, therefore, very intense, exuding a charm that is hard to resist. Tracks like "Soul Boy" or "Stay Close", if they make an impression, risk becoming indispensable, especially in periods when things aren't going well.
It’s worth taking advantage of it: the Blue Nile might not give us another chance very soon.