Despite being a reflection upon his mother's illness and passing,
Someone Else's Party is far from being Vini Reilly's most sullen album, but it most certainly falls in line with the albums that preceded it. Save for two vocal turns -- one, rather jarringly, featuring
Rebekah del Rio's Spanish-language version of
Roy Orbison's "Crying," as heard in
David Lynch's Mulholland Drive -- Reilly goes it alone with his guitar, effects, and a laptop he calls Laurie. "Requiem for My Mother" is the central song of the album, in which his reverberant spirals of guitar encase one of his long career's most poignant songs. Serviceable dance beats and lightweight dub settings occasionally surface; his guitar and voice remain at their best when sparsely adorned. Even if the three or four lackluster songs were lopped off, the album would still be too long -- Reilly's albums have always carried more impact when kept somewhere between 30 and 40 minutes. As unique and entrancing as it might be, his searching, meandering style of guitar-playing begins to wear out its welcome well short of an hour. Proving that Reilly is certifiably bonkers, he declared upon this album's release that it's the only one he's made that's been deserving of release. It's an accomplished one for sure, one with an appeal that reaches far beyond the devout fan base; when stacked against the remainder of his recordings, however, it only falls somewhere in the middle of the pack. ~ Andy Kellman