Erewhon

Alternative Press - 4 (out of 5) - "Despair isn't as easy as it looks....David Thomas...knows how to lift the fog of tired formula and make melancholy--acoustic or otherwise--mean again."

Meanwhile slap-bang in the middle of Erewhon, miles from normality, the erratic genius ploughs his lonely furrow. When he is good he is devastating, and when he isn't, the fast forward is a friend. "Obsession" is excellent, detailing the claustrophobia and resignation of relationships; the whispered vocals and twangy guitars counterpoint the desperate vocals. "Too tired to fight," indeed. "Morbid Sky" is brimful with despair: treated vocals, feedback, throbbing monotone bass, flutey background, and shortwave radio signals. The merging of the wheezy melodeon and David Thomas, breaking into what sounds like a terminal asthma, is fantastically powerful. "Highway 61 Revisited" is a sort of reprise, and contains samples from the preceding tracks, along with what sounds like an overloaded winch letting go of a life. Again, very compelling. "Planet of Fools," with its theremin sounds and spooked voice, could be a ghoulish B-movie -- which is amusing for a while but falls short of the three standout tracks. The remainder veers into Pere Ubu-lite, and often sounds like a petulant child mumbling to himself. A curious curate's egg. ~ Mark Joseph|