Brothers
and sisters sound the siren, a new moon is rising and the return of Wolfmother
is well and truly upon us.
After the whirlwind journey the band went on
with the Wolfmother album, a voyage that resulted in over one million sales, sold
out riots disguised as shows the world over, multiple ARIA Awards and a Grammy,
the time has arrived to break the self-imposed silence.
Wolfmother has
emerged from the Sunset Boulevard studio it called home for the first half of
2009 into the blinding sunlight of a brand new day with a thundering 2nd record,
'Cosmic Egg'.
This regal cacophony is a record that's at once a darker
shade of night at one end of the sonic spectrum and a euphoric light of day at
the other. Every colour in between is a vivid tone on the kaleidoscopic palette
that Wolfmother have drawn from on this, their sophomore broadcast.
'Cosmic
Egg' bolts the gamut from New Moon Rising to the open road riffing of California
Queen, from the thumping groove of Fields to the heaving sludge of 10,000 Feet
and back via the Rhodes-led lament of Far Away. The title track sounds like the
kind of carefree goodtime you'd have hoped for from Wolfmother II, while Phoenix
too echoes of the debut record whilst sounding wonderfully reinvigorated.
The
title 'Cosmic Egg' relates to the age-old black hole theory of optimism, wherein
the implosion of a star doesn't instigate a disappearance or destruction, rather
a new beginning of a new universe.
The seeds for 'Cosmic Egg' were sown
when the touring cycle for the triumphant debut record came to a close, and frontman
and guitarist Andrew Stockdale sat down to start from scratch at his home studio
in Brisbane. The songs themselves that comprise the record came together from
different times and places, geographically, mentally - "some of the songs
were written rather spontaneously during the last 2 weeks of tracking, some have
been floating around in one form or another for 2 years."
Following
this extensive gestation period and the enlistment of new band members, Stockdale
and co, with producer Alan Moulder, travelled to Byron Bay, Australia, to begin
pre-production. Byron served as a makeshift spiritual home for 'Cosmic Egg', and
according to Stockdale, "served well for creative purposes, for the writing
and rewriting the songs it was the perfect place to be."
Moulder meanwhile
brought a giant hessian sack of worldly producer experience to the table, filled
of milestone works from the likes of My Bloody Valentine, The Smashing Pumpkins,
Ride and Nine Inch Nails. Stockdale laments "he was, and is, one of the factors
I'm most excited about when it comes to this record. I guess we connected creatively,
and he's just made the album sound fantastic, incredible, warm, heavy, tasteful,
formidable. If nothing else, whatever happens at least I can say…….this
record sounds superb. And he's got a way of doing that."
From there
the process transplanted to Los Angeles for recording proper to commence, a location
that added another dimension of rich experience to 'Cosmic Egg', and the perfect
place to make magic from one's own mind, a fact concisely reinforced in the resultant
50-odd minute suite.
'Cosmic Egg' is, in short, the sound of the Wolfmother
world being rethunk and cracked wide open, with a sprawling, jubilant galaxy of
musical and metaphysical harmony spilling forth. Expedition is welcome to all.
"Wolfmother
was never like this huge plan to take over the world or anything, 'let's write
the hugest songs in the world' and that kind of thing, but it was definitely like
'ok let's try and impress 12 people, now let's try and impress 50 people, then
100 people, then 200 people and so on'. Now, with 'Cosmic Egg', I've done my job
to an extent, it's in the hands of the listener."
TRACK BY TRACK:
"California
Queen"
Meet the new Wolfmother, same as the old Wolfmother. And thank
Satan for that. From the first head-banging riff, to Andrew Stockdale's Ozzy-with-his-balls-in-a-vice
vocals, to bongy, fantastic lyrics about "Standing in front of the rainbow"
and "Homegrown hydroponics," Wolfmother still parties like it's backstage
at a Uriah Heep show in 1972. A sludgy mid-song riff does show the band getting
more doomy than we've heard before though.
"New Moon Rising"
The
lyrics for this track were handed out to all the guests at the listening party,
so I guess we're supposed to take them as some sort of statement of intent. In
which case, the lines "Well he's scared of the people / He don't wanna be
the whipping boy / But the time has come now / Gotta hit that highway" reads
like Stockdale's coming to terms with continuing the band. A very Queens of the
Stone Age-y low-string guitar riff fuels this one, which also features some nice
unaccompanied drum breaks.
"White Feather"
With it's crunching
stop time guitar chording, bluesy lead licks, straightahead drumming, and gleeful
refrain of "It's all right now," "White Feather" sounds like
evidence that Stockdale's been listening to his countrymen in AC/DC. Where the
first two tracks leaned toward metal with their thick distortion and wailing vocals,
"Feather" sits more towards the hard rock side of things. Do not be
surprised if it pops up in a beer commercial.
"Sundial"
A
simple rocker. The song kicks off with a funky, Hendrix-y guitar lick and some
one note piano plinking. New drummer Dave Atkins lays down an earthy fatback beat
while Stockdale bemoans worldly ignorance. A short guitar solo nods to the main
riff, and after the last chorus, there's a chunky lick on the low strings that
brings the song to an abrupt close.
"In the Morning"
One for
the ladies. On this ballad, Stockdale sings about "My little girl" over
a ringing, lightly distorted open-string guitar part. In the background, an acoustic
guitar plays subdued harmonies. Of course, this being Wolfmother, a siren-like
lead line and descending rhythm guitar part crash in for the chorus while the
bass goes dive bombing. The little girl from before? Now her "Words cut like
knives." It all fades out in a torrent of screaming guitar soloing.
"'Cosmic
Egg'"
The bluesiest track so far. Stockdale pounds out a boogie riff reminiscent
of John Lee Hooker (or ZZ Top's "Tush" or the Doors' "Roadhouse
Blues" or Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" -- you get the idea), and
then pinpoints a key symptom of modern societal malaise: "People get up /
But they don't get down." For the chorus, the rhythm switches to a classic
power metal gallop and an ascending organ lick leads into the stomping coda. Heh
heh. I said ascending organ.
"Far Away"
Get your lighters
out! If "In the Morning" was power-ballad-as-psychedelic-rainbow, then
"Far Away" is its prom-friendly cousin. Over an almost delicate music
box melody played on, I think, electric piano, Stockdale, in a relatively subdued
voice, sings about the one that got away: "I believe that love is gonna last
forever / But it's all within my mind." An acoustic guitar gently pads things
out. The drums play a laidback shuffle. The bass shadows the guitar chords. A
melodic major key guitar solo swoops in to guide the listener to Valhalla.
"Pilgrim"
Very
reminiscent of "Woman." An 8th note riff accompanies Stockdale as he
spins a tale about a woman who's got "Wisdom in her hand." A swampy
lick heralds the chorus, which also features some nicely melodic bass lines. Halfway
through, an unaccompanied single-string riff comes in, the rhythm slows to a half-time
crawl, and then it's back to the chorus. As per usual, the song winds to its conclusion
via some blistering Stockdale lead guitar lines.
"In the Castle"
A
sonic changeup, as the song opens with misty keyboard swells and a ringing renaissance
faire guitar part. "Would you like to walk into the kingdoms of the Sun?"
asks Stockdale. I totally would. "We could walk into the fields to see where
it begun." Count me in, Bro. Especially if our mystical journey is gonna
be soundtracked by the snake charmer guitar licks, galloping power metal rhythm,
and dramatic drum fills on display here.
"Phoenix"
A wiry
New Wave ode to the French guitar-pop band? No. But "Phoenix" is one
of the album's leanest tracks. A crisp rhythm guitar part chugs away during the
verses, a twisting organ riff announces the choruses, and Stockdale sings about
"Rising into the sky." The surprising middle eight features an almost
Latin percussion rhythm and guitars played in harmony.
"Violence of
the Sun"
The album's last track is also it's longest. A tense, mid-tempo
keyboard part kicks things off. Guitar licks slither around a skittering hi-hat.
On the second verse, a massively distorted guitar slams down on the first beat
of each bar. The bass doubles the guitar. "Look into the sky," commands
Stockdale. "Never wondered why / Violence of the Sun." Halfway through,
the music slows down. Power chords lurch about. The drum rolls come fast and heavy.
Stockdale's voice reaches into a higher register as he moans wordlessly and plays
slow, arcing bent notes on the guitar through to the conclusion of this fittingly
epic album closer.
'Cosmic Egg' is available now.
