David Sylvian - Manafon

David, David give us a song. Please?

Described by Sylvian as “a completely modern kind of chamber music; intimate, dynamic, emotive, democratic, economical”, Manafon picks up where 2003’s Blemish concluded. Working with the leading lights of improvisational music, here he creates an unsettling, esoteric soundscape.

There’s a recurring theme of maturity: “I’m dumping you, my childish things / I’m evening up the score,” he intones on Small Metal Gods. The Rabbit Skinner has Marcio Mattos’ celloscraping with the live signal processing of Joel Ryan providing uneasy blips and tweaks. Random Acts Of Senseless Violence recalls the greatest moments of The Secret Of The Beehive. The title track is about Welsh poet RS Thomas; and here Sylvian’s dramatic, isolationist approach works, looking at the radical’s time as parish priest in his small Powys village.

Manafon is, of course, a work of art, but it’s a work to appreciate and admire as opposed to fall in love with. Described as a “one-man monologue”, if you adore Sylvian’s voice, this will understandably enthral, as it’s everywhere. If you cherish him singing a drop-dead gorgeous melody, look elsewhere.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Samadhisound | SOUNDCD SS 016

Reviewed by Daryl Easlea
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