SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BRYAN FERRY – MAMOUNA (DELUXE REISSUE)

BRYAN FERRY
MAMOUNA (DELUXE REISSUE)
BMG

Bryan Ferry’s 1994 album Mamouna took him a very long time to finish, six years to be exact. It started life as Horoscope, but evolved into Mamouna over time.  It was his ninth solo album and the first album to feature newly written songs since 1987’s Bête Noire. It was well worth the wait as it stands as one of Ferry’s finest solo outings. It was also the first album to see him working with Brian Eno for the first time since 1973 when Eno left Roxy Music. Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera and Andy MacKay are also featured on the album making it nearly a reunion album. It was produced by Robin Trower.

Mamouna is a very moody and, at times, dark album. Ferry returned to his experimentation days with songs like “Which Way To Turn” or “39 Steps”. Even songs like “”Don’t Want To Know”, which opens the album, has a hint of mystery and a curious vibe going through it. Eno and Ferry’s “Wildcat Days” demonstrates what could have been had Eno stayed and collaborated with Ferry and is a standout song. But overall, Mamouna is a strong and sadly overlooked album. The title track is a gem and Ferry created some incredible songs, sounds, and melodies with the album.

Of course, fans will want to hear the original Horoscope, and again imagine what would have been. He re-recorded some songs for Mamouna (“The Only Face”, Desdemona (N.Y.C.)”, “39 Steps” and “Gemini Moon”) and they do sound different, not better, but different. “Gemini Dream” is sparse and longer, which allows it to bring the listener in slower. Also featured are “Loop De Li” and “S & M (Midnight Train), two songs that he would revisit many years later on Avonmore (2014). Here the songs are much more eerie and less inviting. Horoscope is a fantastic album, and again Ferry seemed to be revisiting his art school and experimental days. Perhaps he felt it was not commercial enough, but it is nice to finally hear the album in its entirety. The album is sparse and a little beguiling when one listens to it. But it is absolutely brilliant, and it is hard to believe it has sat in a vault all these years.

It is the unheard songs that are just amazing, such as “Raga”, which has little classical Indian influence but is incredible, and perhaps most interestingly his cover of Roxy Music’s classic “Mother Of Pearl”. Gone is the frantic opening, and stark body of the song, and in its place is a over nine-mins long drawn-out lament. It works on many levels, but it does not replace the original at all.

Fans will also want to pay close attention to disc three, which features instrumental works in progress of many of the songs on Mamouna. It is fascinating to hear a song like “The Only Face (Instrumental First Draft ‘89)” take shape and become the classic it is now. Even more enjoyable are the three versions of “Your Painted Smile”. One first hears it as an instrumental, then with guide vocal and a beautiful piano and vocal version from 1993. It is a great listening experience. Equally interesting is the unfinished “Robot” which is a Ferry having some fun and playing with sound.

Mamouna may not be his biggest solo album, and it is one that many have overlooked. This can all be corrected with the Deluxe version. In some ways, it was not one that was expected from Ferry at the time and was not the follow-up to Bête Noire that fans were expecting. There is also a big gap between them, and Mamouna’s success may have lacked due to that delay. However, it is clear, listening to it now, that Mamouna is brilliant and extremely creative. From the sleeve to the music, Ferry made sure it was all picture perfect and the end result was a fantastic album that not only stands up today but is still a little ahead of its time.

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