Back in October, Geordie Greep, the once frontman of legendary UK prog-rock outfit, Black Midi, released his solo album The New Sound‘ I have spent the last 60 days losing my mind over this record. It has consumed me in a way that albums don’t typically do. Because of this absolute stranglehold that this album has me in, I reached out to Andy to see if he’d be interested in letting me write about music – and he said yes! So here I am! What better way to start my music critiquing journey than gushing about this insane jazz rock/prog-rock/Latin rock opus?
The New Sound really is what the title suggests – a new sound. From the moment you hit play on this record you are faced with the musical wall-of-confusion that is “Blues.” This track is about as bluesy as Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” is punk rock. Notes come flying at you in a way that sounds like it could potentially be put together by somebody who is either a musical genius or a complete lunatic who’s never picked up a guitar. The rambling lyrics match the freneticism on display in the instrumentation. The song illustrates a young man who has finally grown up into an adult, and he feels on top of the world. A guy so sure of his opinions, he’s got his own place, he’s got a reputation that he needs to upkeep, and he’s always saying “ja know what I mean?” We all know a guy who says that over and over. Much like this guy in the song, people in real life don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about – but that won’t stop him.
Soon enough we get a better look at what this guy’s life is actually like, and we realize that he isn’t the talk of the town like he imagines. In a masterful display of lyrical painting, Greep details this man’s issues by comparing his high self-opinions about his sexuality to his real life bleak situation. “And you have a bigger dick than any man who’s ever lived / And you can cum more than a hundred stallions / In a room that smells of cigarettes and carrion / Under sheets freezing cold with damp.” This is the first time (and certainly not the last time) where Greep compares this man’s sexual fervour and desires with the grim reality that this man faces. He is a disgusting person that nobody would ever spend any time with unless they were paid to. That explains why most of this album is about this man and his interactions with various (or maybe the same) prostitutes. The song explodes in a flurry of thoughts about self-mutilation and cosmic horrors beyond recognition. All of this happens while he is being praised for his disgusting traits, and it all comes across as earnest, even though if someone like this actually existed they would be shunned from society.
The next song is “Terra”, a ridiculously fun jazz-rock sounds with heavy Latin influences. There’s some beautiful guitar picking that sets up the track, and some booming horns that soon join in. The song is about this horrible man who seems to have collected enough corpses to start a museum. Whether this is literal or not is up to interpretation (I’m assuming), but there is some really interesting imagery about broken hearts. He constantly refers to his “punctured bleeding heart.” Whether he’s telling you to squeeze it, look at it, or what have you, he’s spotlighting how it would fit alongside the corpses found in this museum. He discusses thinking about a lover, and how she is like a “pestilence that unzips the air.” How romantic. The track is seriously high-energy though. If you weren’t listening to the lyrics you would probably be dancing to this and drinking a beer with a big smile on your face! It’s a feel good song about a really disgusting romance.
We then get “Holy, Holy,” the lead single for this album, and to call this a great song doesn’t do it justice. This is a devastatingly fun song to listen to. It opens up with a wall of sound just beating you over the head. Chugging guitars, bass, and drums punching you with these repeated jangled up chords. It’s really disorienting, but after you’ve come to, right after you start banging your head, you’re greeted to the most danceable lead guitar. “Holy, Holy” sounds like if Earth Wind and Fire’s “Let’s Groove Tonight” was made by someone on a shit ton of super illegal drugs. The groovy melody is overcome by this crazy roaring guitar. It sounds proud and triumphant right until the very end of its squealing solo.
The song is about a woman who unfortunately walks into the same bar as our protagonist. He claims he can tell she is lonely by the way she walks, by the way she orders her drink, and even by the way she has styled her hair. He claims to be called “Holy” and brags about how everyone knows who he is and how there is no chance she’s walking out of there without him. The first half of this song is an excellent (albeit insane) pop song. The second half is where the song loses its danceyness and falls into madness. The man now tells the woman how he actually isn’t really going to do anything to her, and how he’d rather she just do some basic requests like telling him he’s a great dancer, or that he smells great. His inadequate nature becomes manifest as he begs this woman to make him feel attractive and desired by many. He’d rather just pay this sex worker to bring up his self-esteem than pay to have her sleep with him. The song is elevated to a new plain of greatness during this meltdown, and it’s the juxtaposition between the two halves that it such a memorable track – not to mention my favourite song of 2024.
We are then treated to a thrilling instrumental piece in the form of “The New Sound.” The title track is a prog rock roller coaster that takes us to latin jazz, latin rock, and right back to prog. The marriage between these three worlds is what I think truly encompass the vibe that this album incapsulates so well. Even though it’s such a strange blend, it feels so obvious and like it’s been done before. I love hyperbole as much as the next guy, but I don’t know another album that sounds like this. This song basically acts as a legend for this album. It lets you know what to expect aesthetically through the album, and it also shows you the different energies present here. This song is beautiful, danceable, jubilant, and a little freaky. The reason this song is the title track is pretty clear.
The next few tracks follow a similar formula to the previous few. We learn more about this man’s gross views on sex and women, but through the lens of thrilling rock music and inhuman musicianship. “Walk Up”, has a very Black Midi sound (which makes sense because they used to perform it live as “Lumps”) with its pounding loud stings of noise. A song about a man who leaves work on his lunch break to have sex. He comes back uncertain if he just got an STD from his sexual partner. The song ends with a goofy skit that somehow impressively manages not to feel out of place. “Through a War” really shows that this guy is nuts. He tells of a time when he was a well respected soldier who lead an army of men to greatness. He explains all his accolades but constantly interrupts himself to say that he even though he’s done so many amazing things, nothing could ever get in the way how much she means to him. He even celebrates his previously mentioned new STD saying that now she will always be with him. This guy is not alright.
“Bongo Season” and “Motorbike” both sit together on the tracklisting and are my least favourite songs on this album. It isn’t that either song are particularly bad, it’s just that they feel out of place on this album. “Bongo Season” is a sweet little Latin groove ladened with beautiful guitar work that just soars over the soundscape. It’s a nice breather, but it doesn’t add much to the album other than being a slightly less interesting version of “Terra.” The track “Motorbike” features Seth Evans on vocals. It’s not that Seth sounds bad, but who is he in the context of this album? I’ve been so invested in this dirtbag that I don’t really care about this other guy. Seth does a great job vocally, but I just don’t understand why Greep couldn’t have sang this one. It finishes with a seriously heavy breakdown that is just relentless. Again, the songs aren’t bad at all, I just don’t understand why they’re here, and they sorta slow down the pacing.
The next two tracks – “As if Waltz” and “The Magician” – take up a whopping 20+ minutes of the album. Both tracks are constantly reinventing themselves and are consistently engaging. “As if Waltz” sees our protagonist envisioning a life with this prostitute he’s fallen in love with. He imagines her without makeup on, and he thinks about how nice it’d be to hear her singing in the shower. But he also wants to watch her fuck other men. He wants to hide in a closet and watch her with other clients to see if any of them look like him. “The Magician” is a 12 minute odyssey that – in my opinion – sets up the events in the rest of the album. It’s about losing something that means a lot to you and becoming a different person in an attempt to chase the feeling of having it back.
The album comes to an end with a Frank Sinatra cover – believe it or not. Greep croons beautifully on “If You Are But a Dream.” To end an album about a disgusting incel with a truly earnest take of a Frank Sinatra track is such a brilliant move in my eyes. This man is so desperate to love somebody that he clings to a poor prostitute and thinks that his life wouldn’t be worth living if he didn’t have her around. He’s said such vile things about her and other women the entire album. To hear him sing so lovingly about a person he views as a sex puppet is as beautiful as it is yucky. There’s no funny business on this one either. It’s a straight up, no bullshit, stunning take on a jazz standard. The ending sounds as if a spotlight is slowly dimming on our protagonist as he fades away. The meaning behind the original song is now completely soiled for me, because this one is so much better.
The New Sound is a triumphant record that just fucking rules. It has personality shooting out of its fingertips like laser beams. This record would be perfect if it weren’t for the rocky pacing halfway through the project. Pacing aside, this album is a showstopper. It demands that you sit and take it in for what it is. This is what it looks like when someone isn’t told “no.” This is creativity in music to the absolute most extreme degree. This album feels like a progression on prog rock. A “prog prog rock” if you will. Stellar on all fronts.
Favourite song: Holy, Holy
Least favourite song: Bongo Season
9.5
