So many times when two artists with distinctive sounds get together to make music, the results don't mesh into anything resembling a true collaboration, more like a car crash or tilted toward one or the other artist. In the case of
the Pattern Forms' album
Peel Away the Ivy (released on the vaunted Ghost Box Records), the two artists involved combine their approaches together perfectly, taking two sounds and coming up with a distinctive third sound. It might not look that way on paper, with the exuberant tropical warmth of
Friendly Fires' dance-pop not seeming like a good fit with the cerebrally witty vintage synths and wonky beats of
the Advisory Circle. The former band's vocalist/producer Ed Macfarlane and guitarist Edd Gibson actually end up meshing very well with the latter's keyboard maestro Jon Brooks. His thick vintage synth melodies give the sound some depth and retro appeal and fit well with the subdued soul the guys from
the Fires bring. Gibson's treated guitars slash through the mix like laser rainbows or ring like chimes; his presence adds a little bit of human soul. Macfarlane's singing is less out front than usual; his swoony croon and breathy declarations of love are folded neatly into the mix or floating through it like he was on a cloud. Most of the album is made up of tracks like "A Simple Walk" and "Don't Let Me Dream," lush ballads with stunning arrangements that mix the handmade past with the shiny future and end up sounding like the dreamiest, most relaxed pop around. "Fluchtwege" is even softer and lusher, with Brooks adding rippling keys and Macfarlane multi-tracking himself into the mist. Their collaboration really takes off on these songs, though the more uptempo songs benefit from all three players' skills, too. "Black Rain" is a
Roxy Music-style nocturnal rocker with a soaring falsetto vocal and some of Brooks' best knob-twiddling, "Man and Machine" is a strutting midtempo shuffle that sounds closest to a
Fires song but benefits again from the vintage keys. The rest of the album is made up of instrumentals and near-instrumentals that lack some of the pop gloss of the rest, but stand on their own as solid examples of blending different eras of keyboards together and of the trio's undeniable compatibility. "Polymer Dawn" is the best of the batch, with the heavy soundtrack-ready synths and majestic drum machines serving as a bracing bed for some of Macfarlane's spectral vocalizing. By the time the album comes to a close with the epic freak-folk-meets-synth-prog "First in an Innocent World," it's hard not to wish for a follow-up or three from the trio. The work they've done here does something that very few collaborations do, which is eclipse the work of the bands the participants came from. Feel free to quit your day jobs guys; keep working on
the Pattern Forms instead. ~ Tim Sendra