Ensoulment

After a quarter of a century, Matt Johnson is back with a new album. I don't think I need to say much about The The, as their records had a huge influence on music in the late 80's. The music didn't really fit into any particular style. Perhaps new wave underground art rock describes it best. I've always loved Matt Johnson's music and I put his records on regularly because even after all these years there's always something new to discover. So what do I expect from his new record? A repeat of his sound or something completely new?

He didn't and that's a good thing! On 12 tracks that cannot always be clearly distinguished musically, we can still hear Slow Train, sometimes more and sometimes less. What has remained are Johnson's enormous storytelling qualities, who presents the album's tracks in a memorable voice. The themes are all-encompassing. Of course, it's about love and violence, war and peace and nothing less than life after death - nothing new really. 

Ultimately, this is an album for those who have always liked Johnson's voice and who like to find themselves in his musical cosmos. A return at a high level.